MANCHESTER _ The National Republican Congressional Committee is denying a report out of Washington that it has given up on 1st District U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta.

The Hill.com reported today that the NRCC “has no airtime reserved for” Guinta and two other “vulnerable incumbents,” which is usually a sign that it has concluded they are bound to lose their elections and, as The Hill wrote, are “beyond saving.”

But that appears to be a questionable assertion, at best.

UnionLeader.com has learned that the NRCC has $2.2 million reserved in airtime on Boston television stations for Guinta, 2nd District U.S. Rep. Charlie Bass and Massachusetts’ 6th District.

In Manchester, the NRCC has already spent $40,000 in coordinated funds with the Guinta campaign on an ad responding to Democratic opponent Carol Shea-Porter’s ad accusing Guinta of neglecting veterans. Another $40,000 will be spent at WMUR by the NRCC next week.

Republicans say they are confident from internal polling that Guinta is in a strong position, despite public polling showing Shea-Porter slightly ahead of him.

“Frank Guinta is winning,” said NRCC spokesman Nat Sillin. “If the race becomes competitive, the NRCC will gladly reintroduce Carol to the people who the people who threw her out of office only two years ago. Her hyper-partisanship and double-talk on Super PACs speaks volumes about why voters booted her out. We’re committed to holding her accountable for her record once again.”