The New York Times reported this morning that the combined raised total for Romney and the RNC was $40.1 million in April, with Romney having $61.4 million in the bank: in comparison, Obama/the DNC raised $43.6 million. Barack Obama’s own cash on hand for April – it was $104.1 million at the end of March – and we probably won’t be told it until the Sunday deadline, or possibly a little later than that . Though, to be fair, Romney and the RNC haven’t submitted their latest fundraising reports to the FEC, either. Also: while I give points to the NYT for mentioning that this was a significant jump from Romney’s March haul of $12.6 million, they might have kept comparing apples-to-apples and included the RNC’s March fundraising total ( $13.7 million ). Or noted that the Democrats’ $43.6 million number for April represents a drop from March’s $53 million . Then again, I suppose that there’s a narrative in place. The real question, of course, is just how much any of this means . Answer: thanks to the latest round of campaign finance reform, not as much as it would have in 2008. Romney and the RNC having this money is good , because it’ll fund infrastructure, campaign worker payrolls, GOTV efforts, and everything else you need to apply a force multiplier to local/grassroots efforts. And they’ll have the money to get the specific message that they want out. But, thanks to the Citizens United case, groups with an interest in the election have a much larger opportunity to have their voices heard, this cycle. Given that the central message this election will be Are you better off now than you were… heck, last month ? you can imagine how much this upsets the Democratic party, despite the fact that nobody’s stopping them from likewise grabbing a microphone and singing out. One last note: I don’t like lumping Romney and the RNC together like this, because it implies that the relationship between the two is essentially identical to that of Obama to the DNC. Which is false. Romney does not control the RNC the way that Obama owns the DNC; obviously the RNC will be working with the candidate, and naturally the Presidential race is the big one this year. But there are still House and Senate races for the national committee’s consideration. I note this because the DCCC and DSCC have been already told that there’s no DNC money for them *, and they are not happy about it … Moe Lane ( crosspost ) (H/T: @ RyanGOP ) *In contrast, the RNC , NRCC , and NRSC have created an interlocking support network for the three national committees, including financial assistance when necessary.
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Romney/RNC almost catches up with Obama/DNC in April.
RedState Morning Briefing May 17, 2012 Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge. 1. Cleaning Up the GOP Moves to Texas 2. Will the South Carolina Democrats Tolerate This Racism? 3. How to Astroturf an Online Cause: the Story of “I Stand with Bill Powers” 4. The Club For Growth’s Depressing Study: Failure and Lies of the Tea Party Congresscritters ———————————————————————- 1. Cleaning Up the GOP Moves to Texas Late last evening came word that House Republicans intend to keep parts of Obamacare. Even if the United States Supreme Court throws the whole law out, House Republicans intend to resurrect portions of Obamacare. House Republicans publicly say the story is wrong. I’ve talked to several House Republicans who tell me the story is actually on the money and the Republicans now denying it are really playing at semantics. These House Republicans tell me these denials about the accuracy of the story are equivalent to the House GOP semantically arguing it was living up to its Pledge to Nowhere requirement for $100 billion in cuts that actually amounted to something like $34 billion. Conservatives in the House of Representatives tell me explicitly to go with Politico on this and be very wary of the House GOP Leadership when it comes to repeal. It is a sad time for the Republican Party. The base must treat its leaders as if they are Soviets — trust but verify their statements. And lately, it is harder and harder to verify their statements. The work of the Tea Party must continue or within a decade I honestly do not believe the GOP will be one political party. In both Indiana and Nebraska, the Tea Party has continued to make gains. People have flat out rejected the establishment favorites for U.S. Senate – Dick Lugar and Jon Bruning, respectively – in favor of candidates who offer a challenge to the status quo. Will Texans prove what they’re made of and do the same? I love Texas. But let’s face it – the Texas congressional delegation is mediocre at best and leaves much to be desired. Now, Texas has the chance to get it right – by sending Ted Cruz to the U.S. Senate. But will they? Maybe. But we have a lot to do and the Republican Primary in Texas is only 2 weeks from today. Please click here for the rest of the post. 2. Will the South Carolina Democrats Tolerate This Racism? Phil Bailey sat next to South Carolina State Senator Jake Knotts when Knotts called Governor Nikki Haley, then a candidate for Governor, a “raghead.” Phil Bailey did nothing. Phil Bailey is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus. It seems he is now intent on one upping Jake Knotts. Bailey, who had no problem with Knotts’ “raghead” comment when even the First Vice Chairman of the State GOP, Patrick Haddon, was calling for Knotts’s resignation, seems determined to one up Knotts with racism. Bailey has been on twitter referring to Nikki Haley, a Methodist of Indian descent, as the “Sikh Jesus.” Governor Haley’s parents are sikh, but she and her husband attend a Methodist Church. Not content to do it just once, Phil Bailey did it a second time, complete with a picture of a dog. Please click here for the rest of the post. 3. How to Astroturf an Online Cause: the Story of “I Stand with Bill Powers” Texas is ground zero in the national higher education reform movement. While the Washington crowd tends to fixate on President Obama’s piddling slap fight with Congressional Republicans over government-secured student loan rates, the real action on fixing higher ed is happening in Austin, Texas. The battle between Rick Perry and the higher ed reformers on one hand versus UT-Austin President Bill Powers and the Ivory Tower status quo on the other hand has been marked by years of grueling and often dull trench warfare that was punctuated last week by a flurry of bombs, beginning with a tuition freeze, followed by rumors of the UT President’s termination, and culminating in a textbook social media public relations campaign that deserves serious examination. And the consequences of this fight? Well, what happens in Texas won’t stay in Texas. This is the story of “I Stand with Bill Powers,” a remarkably well-executed example of online astro-turfing. Please click here for the rest of the post. 4. The Club For Growth’s Depressing Study: Failure and Lies of the Tea Party Congresscritters There have been many studies out on the “tea party congress” and just how tea party it actually is. One study last year noted that 70% of candidates who went to Congress under the tea party banner were voting just like the Republican Leaders they ran against. Probably one of the best places to get a sense of this is the Club for Growth. Why? The Club ignores social votes and focuses only on fiscal votes — spending issues more than anything else. The tea party candidates went to Congress not just to repeal Obamacare, but were really motivated by out of control government spending, bailouts, etc. Please click here for the rest of the post.
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Morning Briefing for May 17, 2012
Phil Bailey sat next to South Carolina State Senator Jake Knotts when Knotts called Governor Nikki Haley, then a candidate for Governor, a “raghead.” Phil Bailey did nothing. Phil Bailey is the Executive Director of the South Carolina Senate Democratic Caucus. It seems he is now intent on one upping Jake Knotts. Bailey, who had no problem with Knotts’ “raghead” comment when even the First Vice Chairman of the State GOP, Patrick Haddon, was calling for Knotts’s resignation, seems determined to one up Knotts with racism. Bailey has been on twitter referring to Nikki Haley, a Methodist of Indian descent, as the “Sikh Jesus.” Governor Haley’s parents are sikh, but she and her husband attend a Methodist Church. Not content to do it just once, Phil Bailey did it a second time, complete with a picture of a dog. I know the South Carolina Democrats have low standards. But do they really want one of their employees to first be cool with the Governor of their state being called a “raghead” and then himself calling her a “sikh Jesus”?
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Will the South Carolina Democrats Tolerate This Racism?
Nice. (Fox News) — It has taken months of bad news, but Democrats increasingly believe that President Obama might just lose his re-election bid. The latest wake-up call comes in the form of a New York Times/CBS poll showing Republican Mitt Romney in the lead not just among registered voters overall, but with women and
Slightly contra Instapundit , this call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in on the California ballot is a blogger’s joke rather than an actual movement [UPDATE: I am informed in comments here that this is meant absolutely seriously; please be assured that I had no intention of mocking either the sentiment or the activity], but if it’s kidding then it’s kidding on the square. And it’s illustrating something that is perhaps being under-reported: the way that Obama’s not been doing all that well in the primaries for an incumbent. I mean, yes : we’ve had it noted that Obama only racked up 59.4% of the West Virginia primary vote; 80.9% of New Hampshire’s; and 79.2% of North Carolina’s. But here are some other primary race vote totals, thus far (all via The Green Papers ): Rhode Island, 83.4%. Louisiana, 76.5%. Alabama, 80.8%. Massachusetts, 81.2%, Oklahoma, 57.1%. To give you a baseline… if you remove places like American Samoa or Guam, if I read this right in 2004 George Bush never dipped below 89.5% (Idaho) of the primary vote in states he won and 79.6% (New Hampshire) in states that he didn’t. Other states of note in 2004, to give you an idea: Alabama, 92.8%. Kentucky, 92.5%. Massachusetts, 90.6%. Rhode Island, 84.9%. I note the Bush comparison not to make a direct one – I do not think that we can really quantify the respective partisan enthusiasms of 2004 Republicans and 2012 Democrats. I do bring it up because it’s becoming clear that the Democratic voters in various states are getting restless . Or perhaps ‘volatile’ is a better word; while most of the Democrats voting in protest in the primaries will vote for Obama in the general, they’re generally not showing that they’re particularly happy about having to do that. And unhappy voters just… vote. I would be interested to see how the media will report this if the trend continues, but unfortunately I don’t live in the alternate universe where mainstream media sources provide that kind of analysis on Democratic candidates. Moe Lane ( crosspost ) PS: I really do want to caution people about reading too much into these numbers; a lot of these states have long histories of using the primaries to spout off. But if it’s legitimate to talk about North Carolina and West Virginia and New Hampshire, then it’s legitimate to note that the additional examples of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and Louisiana suggest that this is all not a series of unfortunate coincidences, or however that phrase goes.
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The call for Mickey Mouse as a write-in in the CA-DEM Primary!
