As the New York Times Reports:
The most recent figures show that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised $56.6 million and has $29.2 million at its disposal. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee has raised $40.7 million with a cash balance of $2.5 million.
That is a striking turnabout for the Republicans, who have outraised the Democrats by considerable margins for years. As recently as 2006, the Republican Congressional campaign committee raised $40 million more than its Democratic counterpart, $179.5 million to $139.9 million.
. . .
Confronting an enormous fund-raising gap with Democrats, Republican Party officials are aggressively recruiting wealthy candidates who can spend large sums of their own money to finance their Congressional races, party officials say.
. . .
Some senior Republicans, frustrated with what they describe as anemic fund-raising by the party’s House campaign committee, say that luring wealthy candidates is no easy fix, as it does not guarantee victory. “I’ve seen many a rich guy blow cash and still not become a member of Congress,” said one top House Republican, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he did not want to be seen as criticizing his colleagues.
. . .
In fact, past elections show that candidates who spend large sums of their own money frequently end up losing. In 2006, for example, only 2 of the 10 candidates who spent the most of their own money on their own races for House seats won the elections, according to an analysis of finance records and election results.
This could spell trouble for the Republicans in 2008? The Democrats are in a good position to expand their majorities in the House and Senate.
1 comment:
True. I think this is also evidence of the reports circulating recently about how Democrats are attracting deep-pocket supporters. It makes you wonder how long they will remain "the party of the people." Or did they already lose that title when they failed to close tax loopholes in Congress this month?
Post a Comment