Who's Leading the Fundraising Race?

The 2006 mid-terms are almost upon us, and there is fear in the air about running out of cash to manage the races. National parties, with internet fund raising wizards at the helm shouldn't be worrying about this, but the Democratic National Committee is, because the GOP has got a 2-1 lead in fund raising.

Not only has the GOP doubled the amount raised by the DNC, ($81 million to $42m) with Howard Dean, 2004's internet fundraising wonder, at the helm, but the cash on hand account is $34 million for the GOP and less than $7 million for Dean and Co.

The Washington Post points out many big donors gave big bucks during the 2004 presidential race, only to be disappointed, again, and may be holding back.

I personally think that the combo of 2004's results, and the advancement of Howard Dean to the chair of the party may be turning off a lot of donors. Dean may have raised a bunch of cash in '03 and '04, but he's also shown a great propensity for melting down, in dumb ways, at bad times. Big party donors may be voting against the DNC decision on Dean with their wallets, telling the party he's not the guy they wanted.

More rantings at Don Surber's place, and on The Fix at the Washington Post.