Given President Bush’s broad unpopularity, it should be no surprise that Senate Republicans are having difficulty raising funds for the November general election. It is hard to swim competitively when you are anchored by failed economic and foreign policies.
It has gotten so bad that Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, felt obligated to issue a terse statement Aug. 22 in which he reminded his colleagues of the need to compete with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee expenditures in targeted races.
“I recently challenged my colleagues to step up to the plate and help me provide the resources our candidates need to compete in races across the country,” Ensign said in his statement. “It has become clear that my call has gone largely unanswered.”
As Las Vegas Sun reporter Lisa Mascaro wrote, Ensign had planned to spend $44.8 million on TV advertising for Republican Senate candidates, but has been forced to shrink that budget.
A look at fundraising numbers compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group in Washington, shows the problems Ensign is facing.
As of July 30, the Democrats had raised $93.3 million for their Senate candidates and had spent $47.1 million. Ensign’s committee had raised only $58.8 million and spent $34.3 million. In the all-important category of cash on hand, the Democrats had $46.2 million. The Republicans had only $24.6 million, barely more than half of what Ensign needs to meet his original TV budget.
We cannot say we’re surprised by these numbers because businesses and special interest groups, which supplement the donations made by senators, want to back potential winners. The Democrats are poised to make big gains in congressional races this fall and have an outside chance of achieving the 60 votes necessary in the Senate to block Republican filibusters.
It is embarrassing for Ensign to receive such a poor response from fellow Republicans. Of course, it doesn’t help when your party is on the wrong side of so many domestic and foreign policy issues.
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