Republican Fundraising Lacks During March, Crist Vetoes GOP Backed Bill

From an article by Sam Stein at The Huffington Post:

The Democratic National Committee raised at least $13 million in the month of March, nearly $2 million more than the Republican National Committee, a Democratic source tells the Huffington Post.

The haul represents a fairly rare victory for the DNC, which traditionally lags behind its GOP counterpart when it comes to raking in donations. A Democrat with the committee pointed to a rejuvenated and enthusiastic Democratic base that is willing to open up their wallets after the passage of health care reform.

That said, there is no word yet as to how much of that $13 million was immediately spent during the month or how much cash the committee currently has on hand, two other key fundraising metrics.

On Wednesday morning, the RNC announced it had raised $11.4 million in March, a total that was pitched as impressive enough to silence skeptics of its embattled chairman, Michael Steele. The numbers, however, were accompanied by some less positive fine print: only $2 million of that $11.4 was saved, bringing the committee's cash on hand to only $11.3 million.

As GOP consultant Scott Reed told the Wall Street Journal: "Usually, at this phase of the game you are raising and saving a lot of money. But that's not what is happening."

The Republican party has recently been under fire for their spending practices, such as taking donors to a lesbian bondage-themed club, or listing a phone sex number on a fund raising letter, which had led to many to call for RNC Chairman Michael Steele resign, and big donors to give money to other conservative networks. These numbers may indicate that the Democrat's fund raising may have been revived in time for this years elections, but it is still too early to know for sure, but one thing is for certain - Democrats need to step it up in order to protect themselves at the polls.

In related news, Florida Governor Charlie Crist vetoed a GOP backed bill that would have revived "leadership funds," renamed "Affiliated Party Committees" by the legislation, that would have allowed "future legislative leaders to raise huge amounts from industry groups and lobbyists and spend those dollars directly on campaigns." While the legislation would have also allowed for stricter disclosure rules regarding "527s," it was the "leadership funds" that prompted the governor to veto the bill. While some believe it is a move byCrist to distance himself from Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, who was appointed by Crist in 2007 and is currently under a criminal probe for redirecting nearly $200,000 of donor money to himself and the party's executive director.

In my opinion, it appears as if the Republican Party is slowly imploding, and the only thing keeping them alive is the Tea Party movement and their hatred for all things related to this administration. The Republicans have become under fire for their spending practices, mismanagement, and blatant disregard for the truth, and while that may fly for some of their donors, they are alienating key groups of their organization, while Democrats are solidifying. While conservatives continually push the notion that Democrats will suffer a crippling defeat at the polls in November, I don't foresee a defeat as great.

I also have to commend Crist on his veto. While I am sure he will receive criticism from his competitor Marco Rubio and the fringe supporters of the GOP, he had made a decision to protect the voters of Florida.