GOP Recruits Millionaires to Defeat Democratic Rivals/ RE Kucinich

[fenriswolf]

Having lost control of the House and Senate in the 2006 elections to the Democratic Party, Republicans have been scrambling to figure out how to reverse that and regain the seats lost to freshman members of Congress. Their plan now is running millionaire (and billionaire) candidates so that they can skip over the hard work of raising funds, and get a head start on campaigning against their Democratic rivals.

The GOP has already begun recruiting wealthy candidates in more than a dozen districts that are currently represented by liberal Democrats finishing up their first terms. Candidates in these districts have already sunk more than $1 million or more of their own money into their campaigns.

The GOP is so confident in their ability to out-spend, and essentially buy their seats, that they've been bragging about it. Ken Spain, a member of the Republican House campaign committee recently gushed to the New York Times

"We have been very fortunate in our recruiting efforts," he said.

Spain then went on to describe the rich Republicans as being "in position to run strong, well-financed grassroots campaigns in some of our top targeted districts."

Some believe that this new strategy simply exemplifies the fact that the GOP has lost their touch when it comes to fundraising, and are having a more difficult time in raising the funds needs through traditional means. Instead, they're looking for candidates that already have a coffer of cash that can bypass the begging and pandering normally involved in campaign fundraising.

Reviews of campaign finance records reveal that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has $29 million at their disposal, while the Repubican Congressional Campaign Committee has a mere $2.5 million. In 2006, the GOP raised more than $40 million more than Democrats. In other words, since losing their positions in 2006, the party has experienced financial weakness.

A spokesperson for Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) warned that the recruiting of millionaire candidates is "dangerous because, even if they don't win, they have money that can force progressives to spend time and money holding on to seats rather than using those resources to make the new gains that have to be made."


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