“To hear top Democrats tell it,” Jeanne Cummings writes in Politico, “the party is being wildly outgunned this year in the fight for campaign cash as Republicans rely on outside groups to funnel money to GOP contenders.”
The “numbers,” however, “tell a different story”:
It’s true that conservative third-party groups are outspending their Democratic rivals. But the Democrats still have a sizable cash advantage in their party committees – making this year’s elections a lot more of a fair fight than Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi let on.
So far, the latest figures show that the Democratic Party machinery has outraised its Republican counterpart in this campaign cycle by almost $270 million.
And even when outside spending on television advertising and direct mail is added to the mix, Republicans still haven’t closed the gap.
And let’s not forget the amount unions, particularly public employee unions are spending on behalf of the Democrats. The indispensable Micheal Barone reports that the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) “will be contributing $87.5 million in this cycle, entirely or almost entirely to Democrats.” The New York Times also notes the Democrats’ funding advantage, but ignores the extent of their union support. Over at Redstate, Dan McLaughlin provides a graphic (from the Wall Street Journal) which illustrates what the Times* ignores:
“That’s right,” McLaughlin writes, “three of the five largest campaign spenders this year are not business or pro-business groups but unions afffiliated with the Democrats and dominated by public employees.” Don’t think Joe Biden will be telling us that; doesn’t fit the narrative.
*which has AFSCME spending a paltry “$5 million”.
Hey Bruce and Dan,
Did you guys see this cartoon?
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/hollywoodland/2010/10/26/taiwanese-animators-mock-jon-stewart-as-obama-loving-political-hack/#more-409473
Isn’t it a truism that once you use the word “but” in a statement, you’re usually attempting to negate the validity of anything you said before it?
What are the figures if you add in the “conservative third-party groups”? That refers to the anonymous money being tossed about anonymously, thanks to one of the worst supreme court decisions ever made, right? Didn’t Rupert Murdoch (a foreigner) blow his top recently because his spending to influence elections in the US were made public? gimme a break.
So Kevin’s ‘defense’ is ‘But the Republicans are doing it too! Not as much, sure, but they’re doing it too, damnit!’
I’m torn between full transparency and the concern about stuff like the anti-Prop-8 antics from our ‘accpeting’ friends on the left.
Hells, when the President calls us ‘enemies’, I think staying down low has merit.
The real obnoxious part of this is that AFSCME, SEIU, and the Teacher’s Unions get all of their money from taxpayers. They are basically money-laundering operations for the Democrat Party. You think it’s a coincidence that the Democrats scurried back to Washington to pass a $26 Billion Public Employees Union bailout just before the election?
I love steak, but I won’t eat roadkill beef that has gone to bloat.
I respect the Presidency, but I don’t support the President blindly.
I support absentee voting, but I think it should be scrutinized for fraud.
I read Kevin’s remarks, but I basically assume that he will play word games rather than just drop his load and move on.
…only if you’re a Fascist who wants to steal money from businesses, regulate businesses and seize businesses outright and dont want them to be able to say anything in their own defense.
And we know you are.
Filtered
#2 – “Didn’t Rupert Murdoch (a foreigner) blow his top recently because his spending to influence elections in the US were made public? gimme a break.”
You mean like George Soros, who has spent millions to influence NPR, CPB, the California prop for marijuana use, HuffPo and Moveon.org?
Try again.
Regards,
Peter H.