Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The Morning Grind
GOP holds a $15 million cash advantage heading into midterms; but Senate and House Democrats flex fundraising muscles

Republicans hold an overall cash advantage on Democrats heading into November, new campaign finance disclosure reports show. But when viewed by individual campaign committees, Senate and House Democrats have more money in the bank for the midterm elections than their GOP counterparts.

The $15 million gap that separates Republicans and Democrats is due to the fact that the Republican National Committee has four times more money available than the Democratic National Committee. As of May 31, the RNC had $43.1 million in the bank, while the DNC reported $10.3 million in its war chest.

The combined cash-on-hand for the DNC, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is $68.3 million, while the RNC, National Republican Senatorial Committee and National Republican Congressional Committee total is $83.3 million.

The RNC's fundraising dominance over the DNC can be attributed to several factors, led by the Republican control of the White House. Still, some Democrats are angry and are questioning DNC Chairman Howard Dean's ability to raise funds as well as his decision to invest in rebuilding party infrastructure in "red states" instead of spending all of its resources in trying to take back control of the House and Senate. For his part, Dean defends the 50-state strategy, and he released a letter yesterday from Utah State Democratic Party Chairman Wayne Holland, Jr. praising it. Georgia State Democratic Party Chairman Bobby Kahn and other state Democratic leaders have told the Grind they, too, support Dean's initiative.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have $15 million more than Senate Republicans; while in the House ,Democrats have a $2.6 million cash-on-hand advantage over the GOP at this point in the election cycle. President Bush helped to raise $27 million for the NRSC and NRCC earlier this week, so these numbers could change dramatically next month.

***

Casey leads Santorum by 18

In one of the most closely watched Senate races this year, Pennsylvania state Treasurer Robert Casey, Jr. holds an 18 point lead (52 percent to 34 percent) over incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), a new Quinnipiac University poll set for release this morning shows. A previous Quinnipiac poll had Casey leading Santorum by 15 points.

The university also noted that 44 percent of Pennsylvanians who back Casey "say their vote is mainly against Santorum."

"Sen. Santorum appears to be his own worst enemy in his battle for re-election," Clay Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement accompanying the poll results. "More than 40 percent of those who say they will vote for Democrat Bob Casey say they are really voting against Santorum. And less than 40 percent of all voters say Santorum deserves to be reelected."

***

Interesting ad placement

The Times-Reporter, a newspaper located in Rep. Bob Ney's (R-Ohio) district, writes up the conviction of David Safavian in the ongoing Jack Abramoff corruption probe. Check out the web ad from Ney -- who is also being investigated for his ties to Abramoff -- that wraps around the story in today's edition.

***

Michael Chertoff as Jack Bauer

Let's face it, most of the think tank panels that examine pressing issues of the day can be, well, down right boring. But the Heritage Foundation has come up with a format to spice it up. On Friday, Heritage uses the wildly popular television drama "24" to talk about national security. Three actors and two of the show's executive producers/writers will appear on a panel to discuss "24 and America's image in Fighting Terrorism: Fact, Fiction, or Does it Matter." President Charles Logan (Gregory Itzin), Chloe O'Brian (Mary Lynn Rajskub), and Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard) will participate in the discussion.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is a big fan of the show and will also be on the panel, Heritage's Khristine Bershers tells the Grind. Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh will serve as the moderator.
Posted By Mark Preston, CNN Political Unit: 6/21/2006 10:56:00 AM ET | Permalink
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