GOP can't rely on money advantage now: "Those days are over..."

[DeepModem Mom]

Politico: GOP can't rely on money advantage now
By: Jeanne Cummings
May 15, 2008

For years, Republicans could survive mistakes in Congressional races and still gain new advantages because they always had more money than the Democrats. Those days are over now, and not in some incremental way.

Consider a few facts:

• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is working to raise $40 million to help its Capitol Hill allies; the labor unions are vowing to spend $400 million this cycle.

• In 2006, candidates who captured open House seats spent an average of about $1 million for an easy win (more than 60 percent) and about $2.5 million for a relatively close one, according to the Campaign Finance Institute. House Republicans have $7 million in the bank to help defend 30 open seats this cycle, and not a single one can be considered easy after Tuesday’s Mississippi upset.

• Fundraising-challenged Senate Republicans have long relied on the Republican National Committee to bail out their candidates. This year, Arizona Sen. John McCain has already laid claim to all of the central committee’s cash to boost his financially strapped presidential campaign. There will be no help in the wings....

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...Republicans will face an abysmal election environment without one of their most potent and reliable weapons: an ability to pour millions into advertising, direct mail or voter turnout and tip the scales of close elections to their advantage. The reasons for the turn of fate are many, and most predate the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress and President Bush’s sagging popularity, although both factors clearly accelerated the change....

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Corporate America’s political adjustment accelerated after Election Day. In the first nine months of 2007 (business) PACs gave 57 percent of their contributions to Democrats, as compared to 43 percent in 2005, according to the (Campaign Finance) Institute’s analysis....

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As Republican donations shrank, Democratic giving exploded to both candidates and activist groups. Most importantly, during their time in exile, the Democrats mastered the future of fundraising — online organizing that can lead to massive giving — and built new, more muscular outside allies to bolster their voter appeals. Today, most Democratic incumbents are vastly outraising their rivals, Democratic candidates for open seats are banking more than their adversaries and many Democratic challengers of sitting Republicans are racking up enough cash to wage competitive fights.

MoveOn.org, a liberal online group that primarily collects small donations, is already running advertisements against Republicans on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s wish list of 76 targets. Of the top five best-financed independent groups, or 527s, that will run ads or conduct voter turnout operations in November, only one is run by Republicans. Of the total giving to those groups, 41 percent of the money comes from labor unions, 36 percent from individuals and just 2 percent from corporations.

Meanwhile, the Democratic donor pool continues to grow...

http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E9C9221D-3048-5C12-00197B838A3ADE7D

[eShirl]

1. I didn't realize the extent to which McCain is dead weight to the party

"This year, Arizona Sen. John McCain has already laid claim to all of the central committee’s cash to boost his financially strapped presidential campaign."

dayum...

[DeepModem Mom]

2. I hadn't thought of it that way either. They're apparently having to choose...

between a full-out effort for the Presidency or the Congress -- not both.