We have literally never seen a political landscape like this:
So far in the 2008 campaign, Democratic candidates for the White House and Congress, along with the Democratic National Committee and other party committees, have raised a total of $388.8 million, compared with $287.3 million for Republicans, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The figures include reports filed Friday by the House and Senate party committees for fund raising through June 30.
Should that gap persist through the end of next year, it would be the first time in the 30-year history of the FEC that Democrats outraised Republicans overall in federal elections, says FEC spokesman Bob Biersack.
The Dems have always been at a financial disadvantage. It only stands to reason that the party of the people will get fewer contributions than the party of big business. But things are changing, and small contributions are a big part of it.
Democrats have taken the lead by exploiting widespread disapproval of President Bush and the Iraq war to develop a more robust online network of new, small donors, as well as to gain traction with deep-pocketed business contributors…
Moreover, Democrats’ focus on small donors leaves them room to raise more cash over the next year, since many contributors have yet to hit the legal limit of $2,300 per candidate per election, and could potentially keep giving.
I’m afraid of what Bush might do over the remaining 18 months of his presidency. But I’m optimistic about the future. Everywhere I look I see signs of a total collapse of the Republican Party.
Frankly, it’s amazing they’ve survived as long as they have since the rationale for their existence evaporated with the collapse of the Soviet Union. All they have left, really, is appealing to snake-handlers and racist thugs, and the snake-handlers are getting wise to their shenanigans.
Which is why my “total desperation alarm” is ringing about as loud as it can. Pretty soon things are going to get bad enough that we’ll pass the point where totally blowing what remaining shreds of the GOP’s national security cred — the famous “We haven’t been attacked again on our soil” argument — will be a more palatable alternative than the Dems getting the House, White House, and a 60+ member majority in the Senate.
Judging by the executive orders Bush is racking up in recent months, I’m pretty sure we’re pretty damn close to that point now.
Hell, September is five weeks away, and the August recess is right around the corner. If Bush is going to make his move, that’s when he’ll do it.
“Hell, September is five weeks away, and the August recess is right around the corner.“
..remember this jem?
sop w/ this group, ceo president and all, they’re big time believers in the power of marketing. witness the latest, bestest new tactic for iraq: rebranding:
l can see it now….we’re here to help…catchy, ain’t it.
lTMF’sA
Reminds me of a line from the parodical Dr Demento song “Star Trekkin”:
We come in peace–
shoot to kill, shoot to kill, shoot to kill….
Aaaaaaaaah. I like the sound of that.
you don’t need a party. You just need loyalists and secret police.
Suppose the Republican Party collapsed like the Whigs. What then? I’m not a fan of political parties, but it would create a political vacuum. The last thing this country needs is one party rule without an opposition of some sort.
Some kind of opposition would arise. After the Whigs, the Democrats nearly split (southern and northern candidates in the 1860 election) and the Republicans emerged as well; if the Republicans had not won (Lincoln) maybe the Democratic split would have been permanent. Also, in the UK, the Liberal party withered away and was replaced by the Labor party roughly a century ago. Canada may be in the early stages of a replacement, in that the Lib Dems have picked up some steam (although I do not follow this closely so I could misunderstand the situation).
IMHO the Republican party is ready to be condemned and bulldozed, and either the right end of the Dems or a spontaneous emerging party will replace them. I kind of wonder in what ways the replacement would differ. It is my hope that such a regenerated right-wing party would have less of a religious component as well as being less power-mad/corrupt, but who knows?
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From your link, buying influence?
Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group and other members of the Private Equity Council trade group gave 69% of their $3.4 million in campaign donations to Democrats last year, up from 51% of $2.7 million in 2000, data from the Center for Responsive Politics show. Separate data for large hedge funds show a similar pattern of giving.
Other sectors are following suit. The securities industry flipped its allegiance to Democrats in 2006, giving more to Democrats than Republicans for the first time in a decade, the Center for Responsive Politics said.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."When I was up in bucks for Pat Murphy they commented on the money race and said that the face that they were only outspending us about 2:1 was a good sign because usually the Rs are ahead around 3:1.
If we actually out raise them, it might not even be a race.