Anybody Want To Give Money To Democrats? Anybody At All? | The New Republic

Oberstar Power, Or Lack Thereof

Astonishing finding about outside money in this election cycle:

Combining party and coordinated totals, Republicans are outspending Democrats by almost 3 to 2. Among interest group spenders, Republican-leaning organizations are outspending Democrats by a margin of almost 9:1 in House and Senate contests.

The enthusiasm gap among the donor class seems much, much wider than the enthusiasm gap among voters, which is still fairly wide.

In a somewhat related story, one Democratic Rep. is having a little trouble raising money in his district:

With a potentially competitive race developing back home in Minnesota’s 8th District, Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar collected a contribution from just one resident of the district between June 22 and Sept. 30, according to a federal election report filed Wednesday.
Jane Robbins of Pine City gave Oberstar $500 on Aug. 22.

I'll tell you one thing, Jane Robbins of Pine City is going to be able to call in some favors with Oberstar. How about a nice federal earmark to repave her driveway?