I just posted this comment in the finance thread on the front page. I like it quite a bit, so I'm going to put it here in my diary:
I think part of the reason that the 527s have not become as dominate on the Republican side is because the Republican message is a machine. It is controlled centrally by the RNC and they keep a very tight control over the message. Appropriately, the money tends to get funneled through them or through campaigns that obey their order.
The problem with 527s, of course, is that they are independent. MoveOn, ACT, the Media Fund, etc. don't follow the rules of the DNC. Which isn't to say they act in opposition of the DNC, just that they act as they see fit, not as the DNC sees fit. This works out okay on the Democratic side, because they are typically espousing progressive values that the DNC, most of the time, is happy to be associated with. In particular, since the 527s have come up, they've been particularly focused on being anti-Bush, which of course is fine with the DNC. So there's been a defining message that all are on board with, even if they act independently.
If we oust Bush this November, it will be interesting to see how harmonious the DNC and the 527s are in the future. Will there be more splintering as these 527s move away from the overarching threat of Bush and start pushing more specific agendas which the DNC may or may not be happy with? It's going to be interesting to see.
But back to the Republicans. The problem here is two fold, so far as I see. First of all, 527s seem to be strongest by engaging large amounts of people and tapping into their passion to gain both monetary funds but also activist participation. It's easy to set up a 527 front that is simply funded by a couple of very wealthy people and simply runs ads, but it is much more effective to set up a 527 that actually creates an organization. I don't think Republican 527s are going to prove nearly so conducive to this, since they don't typically espouse progressive positions with which they can find millions of people who are in passionate agreement with.
The exception to this is my second point, and which gets to the core, I believe, of why 527s have not become as influential on the Republican side. One of the key areas where you can get a lot of passionate grassroots activism is on the religious front. So religious 527s could prove to be very successful. However, you can bet that the RNC is not eager to cede control and money to such an organization. They want their message tightly controlled. The want the money and the energy that comes from the religious right, but they don't want a well-funded organization that is purely run by and for the religious right and is a pseudo-representation of the party. Such an organization is going to be running ads that are going to turn off many Americans and help fuel the perception of the Republican party as far-right, ultra-conservative, radical, and exclusive. Instead, they want to use the money from the religious right to fund their misleading message of inclusion and moderation.
So the best 527s on the Republican side are likely to act in all kinds of manners that the RNC finds stress-inducing. And those that do act in accordance with the RNC will likely be little more than front organizations for some particularly wealthy donors that will run ads that the RNC would have run anyway. That's why they liked the system before the campaign finance reform laws, when that money would simply have gone straight to them and they could have fully controlled it. When it goes to other organizations, there's the risk that they'll diverge from the carefully cultivated message the RNC has devised.
On the Democratic side, though, you have a bunch of organizations that may be diverging from the DNC message (is there a DNC message?) but are still generally acting in a positive manner for Democrats. Since the Democrats are on the right side of most social issues, when you take into account the majority of public opinion, then it doesn't hurt them to have some 527 out there pushing for better environment standards or more funding for public education or affordable health care, even if it's not the exact message the DNC would put out. So the 527s work well for them. But not as well for the Republicans, because it injects to much volatility into their platform. Since the Republicans are on the wrong side of most of the issues, their message has to be more tightly controlled. Basically, they need to mislead to win elections, so it's always going to be a danger to have a well-funded group speaking for them because that group--believing in what the Republicans actually are for--might tell the truth. And that's the last thing the RNC wants the public to hear.