(http://www.politico.com/) Why Dems are winning money war By: Alex Isenstadt and David Catanese October 23, 2011 07:02 AM EDT According to the laws of political gravity, this shouldn’t be happening. President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are _in the dumps_ (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66518.html) , and so is the economy. Wall Street’s cash cows are _angry at the Democratic Party_ (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66259.html) and its sudden embrace of populist rhetoric. Almost no one thinks Democrats have a shot at winning back the House next year and Republicans have an excellent chance of winning control of the Senate. Yet even with the prospect of an entirely GOP-controlled federal government in 2013, Democrats are outraising their GOP counterparts in month after month. In September alone, the _Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee_ (http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/DemocraticCongressionalCampaignCommit tee) nearly doubled the National Republican Congressional Committee’s take, while the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $1 million more than the National Republican Senatorial Committee. What gives? Here why Democrats are winning the money chase. Cut, Cap, and Empty-Pocketed The new House GOP majority stormed Capitol Hill with the single-minded goal of slashing federal spending. But they’ve had a rude awakening: cuts to federal spending are a hindrance to healthy fundraising - especially when it comes to picking the pockets of the _K Street_ (http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/KStreet) donors and interest groups who depend on federal dollars. Members of Congress and fundraisers say the choke on spending hasn’t helped with fundraising, and acknowledge that it’s an increasing concern for the GOP as it begins mapping out its 2012 blueprint. “The House Republicans have come in with an austerity agenda,” said former Pennsylvania Rep. Phil English, now a GOP lobbyist who is active in fundraising circles. “The disadvantage is that it’s hard to make some people happy.” The power of Pelosi She’s still got it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is one of the Democratic Party’s most prodigious fundraisers — and she continues to deliver for her party. Since the beginning of the year, Pelosi has held 262 fundraising events in 35 cities and two territories, which have raised more than $24.4 million for House Democrats, according to party officials – a stepped up fundraising pace for the former House Speaker. Since Pelosi – who Republicans turned into Public Enemy No. 1 in 2010 – no longer wields the gavel, she’s free to pursue a vigorous political schedule as she leads the party’s push to win back the House. The tightfisted class of 2010 NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Texas) has a problem: his freshmen aren’t donating their cash. That’s a serious issue when roughly one-third of the Republican conference comprises first-termers. How bad is it? Earlier this month, Sessions convened GOP members in a room at the Capitol Hill Club and put up a slideshow presentation titled, “The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,” highlighting how much lawmakers had contributed to the NRCC, according to three Republican sources familiar with his remarks. The final category was dominated by freshmen who weren’t digging deep to fill party coffers. Several freshmen, speaking to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity, explained that they were concerned about their reelection bids and didn’t want to contribute until later on in the cycle. Others said they were waiting to rebuild their depleted war chests. “We’ve just got a lot of freshmen who don’t have the capital of more senior members,” said Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole, a past NRCC chairman. With many newcomers concerned about their initial reelection bids, he said, “that tends to freeze money.” But it’s not just freshmen who aren’t coughing it up. In September, at least 29 GOP members contributed to the NRCC. Compare that to House Democrats: more than 50 of them opened their wallets for the DCCC. “Frankly, our team has to suck it up a little,” said Cole. “We’ve got some people who are just slackers – I think you’ve got to confront that directly.” The outside game Broadly speaking, the rise of GOP-aligned outside groups might be a positive development for Republicans, but it’s not necessarily a good thing for the House and Senate party committees. There’s only so much money to go around. And deep-pocketed donors are now faced with the choice of handing their cash to committees like the NRSC or NRCC or to independent groups – and, increasingly, outside groups are thought to be where the action is. Newly formed groups designed to boost House GOP prospects in 2012 are headed up by veteran party operatives like Rob Collins and John Murray, both former aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Brian Walsh, a former top staffer at the NRCC – all of whom are well-acquainted with the House election landscape. The lines between party leadership and the outside groups, which can accept unlimited amounts of money from anonymous donors, are becoming increasingly blurred: next month, House GOP leaders will headline a fundraiser for the Congressional Leadership Fund, a new group that’s being headed up by Walsh. “You’re seeing a flood of money that would usually go to the NRCC and NRSC going to independent expenditures and presidential campaigns,” said English. “That has made a significant difference.” Officials who head up groups like American Crossroads insist that they aren ’t impeding party committee fundraising efforts, because donors who max out to them can still donate to the NRCC or NRSC. And in the end, they point out, it’s all directed against Democrats. The incumbency factor For Senate Democrats, the downside of 2012 is that they have to defend 17 Democratic incumbents — more than twice the number that the GOP must defend. That means lots of incumbents — who typically have more access to cash than challengers — are out there with hat in hand. Republicans, meanwhile, have a collection of competitive and unsettled GOP fields that are keeping donors on the sidelines. The party is still searching for clear Senate frontrunners in Missouri, Florida and Wisconsin – each which currently has at least three GOPers vying for the nomination. House Democrats are ‘crushing it’ Republicans glumly acknowledge that Democrats are just doing a flat out better job when it comes to raising cash. As one House GOP aide put it, they’re “crushing it.” Since losing the majority, Pelosi and DCCC Chairman Steve Israel have emerged as outspoken and energetic leaders for the party, taking to the airwaves and hitting the fundraising circuit as they try to re-seize the House majority. English said he noticed a newfound focus and hunger on the part of Democrats that was driving their fundraising efforts. “The Democrats are much more focused right now, at least on the fundraising side,” he said. “There is no question: These numbers are not good for Republicans.” “Look, I’ve got to give Steve Israel and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee a lot of credit,” said Cole. “They’ve done a very, very good job.” The presidential effect GOP campaign committees aren’t just competing with outside groups for cash – they’re locking horns with a crowded field of presidential contenders who are also dialing for dollars. Unlike the midterm elections, when House and Senate races were the only games in town, the GOP primary is dominating the news coverage and driving the 2012 narrative – not to mention dominating the attention of key party players and donors who the committees rely on. It won’t get any easier from here on out. Over the next several months, presidential candidates will push for dollars as they try to keep their campaigns alive in the lead-up to the nominating contests.
-- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org
