Republicans have hoped that Sen. John McCain's reputation as a maverick and his appeal to independents would help them in this year's congressional elections. Democrats are now putting that to the test.

House Democrats' campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, today fired off press releases against about three dozen House Republicans or Republican challengers asking them to choose between siding with or against McCain's comment this week that the economy made progress under President Bush.

The McCain campaign is saying it's an unfair charge taken out of context — most of that answer, on Bloomberg TV, was spent on the pain Americans are feeling economically — but the DCCC is trying to make McCain a problem for Republicans anyway.

Democrats have long feared McCain as the toughest Republican to beat, given his reputation as a maverick, and know that could help marginal Republican races in swing states.

The DCCC provided a list of 35 districts they are sending the releases to, but said that was not a complete list of their Republican targets this year.

Included are candidates ranging from perennial target Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut to challenger Tim Bee, seeking to replace Rep. Rick Renzi in Arizona's 1st 8th district, to Rep. Virgil Goode in Virginia's 5th district, usually thought of as a safe incumbent — he won with about 60 percent of the vote in 2004 and 2006.

— Stephen Dinan, national political reporter, The Washington Times