August 23, 2004
Say it ain't so
from - Buck
When I received the following alert via email today I was dumbfounded. I use blockquotes here because I am not able to link to the story directly from Newsmax at this time.
1. Is the Bush Campaign Running Out of Money?When John Kerry's campaign came from near insolvency to raising more money than the incumbent, President George Bush, we thought the President would be in a wee bit of money trouble.
And when we saw the 527s raising tens of millions backed by the likes of George Soros -- without the Republicans doing likewise -- we knew that Republicans would be in for a big store of trouble.
NewsMax's Insider Report was the first to reveal that the FEC would not rule against the 527s. In fact, we reported that Republican commission members had warned the Bush White House to get into the game ASAP because the 527s would not be declared illegal.
But the Bush campaign, not interested in having independent groups they could not control, would not give its blessing to pro-Bush 527s.
Now the money math is simple. The Kerry forces - through his campaign, the unions and the 527s - will outspend Bush by some $300 million or more by election day.
With just two months left we thought the Republicans would be desperate for money. And so it is.
One wealthy Republican - one of the few who can write Soros-style checks of $10 million or more - tells us that he has, all of a sudden, gotten calls from desperate Republicans seeking help, including one call from RNC chief Ed Gillespie. All calls have gone unreturned.
Like most Republicans, he is strongly rooting for Bush. But no money will be sent. This donor doesn't believe it will make much of a difference at this point.
And then there's politics. President Bush never invited the donor - a frequent guest in the Oval Office of previous Republican presidents - to the White House even once during the past four years.
It's a story we have heard time and again. Conservatives who write to the president get no response, and no one from the Bush White House calls to thank their friends and supporters on behalf of the President. These are the normal things previous administrations have done.
The stories about lack of follow up from the Bush White House and RNC are legion with the constituencies of the "Reagan base" of the party.
For example, there's the NRA - perhaps the most critical group that backed Bush in 2000 - still furious over the McCain-Feingold bill that has perhaps permanently emasculated them in the political process.
But there are other stories told. There is a prominent Democrat who endorsed Bush and never heard from the Republicans for months after going public. Now when they call he says he is still supporting Bush, but "please, let me do my own thing" (read: please keep your distance).
If Bush loses in November it may be due to his lack of cash - and more likely due to the poor job his political operatives have done.
Tip O'Neill once said all politics is local. He was wrong: all politics is politics.
This was a real jaw-dropper to me. I cannot imagine a political party being so out of touch as to take everything for granted. Not even a simple thank you to donors? No White House invitiations? I had always suspected these guys of being ignorant, incompetent and apathetic but Newsmax just gave me all of the verification that I need.
If I am missing something here please let me know. I don't know if I should take this article seriously or not.
::Posted by Buck at August 23, 2004 10:14 PM
Beats me. I would almost say that maybe he really did believe he had outlawed 527's. Only, that doesn't make sense, either.
This may be the first election season in half a century where the Democrat outraises the Republican, after soft and hard fundraising are both taken into account. My first instinct is "Thank Gov. Dean."
| Posted by smijer on August 23, 2004 10:48 PM Link to comment |