The Hill's Jackie Kucinich must be pained to have to report that the National Republican Congressional Committee has recovered from the financial woes of the 2006 election cycle and is back in to positive cash flow.“Yes, we are in the black as of today,” NRCC spokeswoman Julie Shutley said Tuesday, indicating that the NRCC’s cash on hand has risen past its debt of $3.6 million, which was incurred last year when the GOP unsuccessfully tried to defend its House majority. Checks from the individual campaign committees of Republican lawmakers began rolling in on Tuesday morning as a result of a fundraising push led by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.).I think this is a pretty good sign that one of the after effects of the special elections was a renewed sense of energy in the rank and file members of the GOP. If Democrats thought they were going to be facing a demoralized Republican base in 2008, they can think again.
“It has a lot to do with the excitement surrounding the special elections,” Shutley said. “This makes for an early Christmas.”
I still expect the DCCC to outraise and outspend the NRCC and I do expect that the NRCC will continue to have fundraising woes. The trend on the Republican side has been much more geared towards contributing directly to campaigns that the base supports rather than to the NRCC. Is that the smarter move? Who knows...
