Why Dems are winning the money war
By ALEX ISENSTADT & DAVID CATANESE | 10/23/11 7:02 AM EDT
According to the laws of political gravity, this shouldn’t be happening.
President Barack Obama’s approval ratings are in the dumps, and so is the economy. Wall Street’s cash cows are angry at the Democratic Party 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 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 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.
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