Big donors have re-opened their checkbooks for the Republican National Committee, a sign that under new leadership the group is digging out of financial troubles.
The RNC collected $2.5 million in checks of $20,000 or more during this year’s first three months, according to the Federal Election Commission. That’s more than half of the $4.4 million the party raised in large amounts during 2009 and 2010 combined.
The surge in such donations comes as RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’s campaign has sought to woo back major contributors who abandoned the national committee when it was led by Michael Steele, the former Maryland lieutenant governor whose free-spending habits and penchant for making unpredictable comments on television irked party insiders.
The Hill reports:
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has sent out fundraising emails from individual senators for the past several days, capping off Thursday's deadline with a plea from Democratic strategist James Carville.
Carville's pitch centered on American Crossroads's recent ad buy and specifically mentioned one of the conservative outside spending group's founders -- former Bush strategist Karl Rove.
"Your decision right now … determines whether we have the money to invest in key races. If we meet our goals, we can hold the Senate and stop their sick Republican agenda. But if Rove wins, you got Big Oil writing energy policy, Big Insurance handling your health care, and you can kiss Medicare goodbye. Your choice, folks. You know what you need to do," Carville wrote.
The approach might work with contributors, but demonizing GOP operatives failed with the general electorate last fall.
