In a sign that Democrat Raul Ruiz is gaining national attention, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee today named the emergency room physician to its Red to Blue program.

The fundraising effort “highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support,” according to the DCCC website.

The higher profile means Ruiz will now benefit from national fundraising drives. Ruiz is one of 35 Democratic candidates to make the list.

Reports released last week show the political newcomer from Palm Desert raised nearly $272,000 during the first three months of the year, outpacing the fundraising efforts of Rep. Mary Bono Mack.

The Palm Springs Republican incumbent still has more cash on hand.

In January, the DCCC identified the 36th Congressional campaign as one of 18 “emerging” races in the country.

“Raul Ruiz is a doctor and a problem solver who is focused on the middle class,” Rep. Steve Israel, DCCC chairman, said in a statement today.

“In Congress, Raul will fight for the middle class and seniors, not the ultra wealthy or big companies, and he will stand up to the extreme Republican agenda that ends Medicare in order to protect millionaires.”

The national Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Rep. Mary Bono Mack as part of its “Medicare March” campaign.

Through automated phone calls, the campaign arm for House Democrats is contacting local residents to say House Republicans such as Bono Mack have “the wrong priorities.”

“House Republicans like Mack demand seniors who earned their Medicare benefits spend thousands more, but refuse to end tax loopholes and giveaways for millionaires,” the call states. “It’s just not fair and it’s not right.”

Bono Mack, a Palm Springs Republican, has been targeted by the DCCC for years.

As part of an effort to unseat her, Democrats are increasingly pointing out that Bono Mack backed Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan last year. The plan would have reduced federal spending by $4 trillion over the next decade, thanks in large part to cost-saving changes to Medicare and Medicaid.

“We are facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis that is threatening America’s future prosperity,” Bono Mack said in a statement after the April 2011 vote.

“To head off this crisis, we need to dramatically cut spending now. It’s outrageous to keep borrowing money for programs that we can no longer afford — no matter how well intentioned — when we have a national debt that is growing by a staggering $4 billion every day.”

Just last week, DCCC chairman Steve Israel, a congressman from New York, told The Desert Sun that Medicare would be a key issue in this year’s election.

Bono Mack is being challenged by Democrat Raul Ruiz, an emergency room from Palm Desert.