Everyone instinctively knows that the prolonged battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination is hurting the Democratic Party. While John McCain reclines in his easy chair, taking shots at a distracted Obama, the Democrats continue to lose the time they need to take their fight directly to the presumptive GOP nominee.
But here’s the cold, hard truth about what this extended battle is going to the party, according to Politico. While donations to the Clinton and Obama campaigns are coming hot and heavy, the Democratic Party has raised less than half of what the Republicans have year to date:
According to the latest Federal Election Commission reports filed through the end of March, the RNC had $31 million in cash on hand while the DNC had only $5.3 million. The RNC has raised $36.5 million this year while the DNC has raised $17.7 million.
The story was equally grim in 2007, when the RNC raised a total of $83 million to the DNC’s $50 million.
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The problem, it seems, isn’t that the DNC is doing any worse at this point than in previous presidential years. Rather, the DNC is unable to take advantage of an extremely favorable fundraising environment because the party’s presidential candidates have vacuumed so much cash out of donors.
A party divided cannot stand. Not only is it bad for the party’s message, it’s bad for the bottom line, too.
Filed under: Politics | Tagged: Barack Obama, Democrats, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, money, Politico, Politics, Republicans
