When it comes to congressional campaign committees that must abide by strict federal contribution limits, the Democratic Party is way ahead of the GOP: after a huge September of fundraising, the DCCC has $41.6 million cash-on-hand to the NRSC's $19 million. And on the Senate side, the DSCC broke its September fundraising record with a $15.5 million haul. (Update: The Republican NRSC took in just half as much -- $8.3 million.) So at least when there's a level playing field and rules about how much each person can give, Democrats are doing very well.
But when it comes to the parties gubernatorial committees -- which aren't subject to the same federal limits and to which corporations like the Fox News parent company can donate $1 million -- Republicans have a $31.5 million to $13 million advantage in cash-on-hand. And in the newly deregulated world of anonymous business group campaign committees, Republicans have a massive advantage, benefiting from $300 million in outside spending on television ads compared to $100 million for Democrats.
With numbers like that, it's no wonder that Republicans don't like any sort of campaign finance regulation that inhibits the ability of a small group of special interests to drown out the voices of everybody else. If there were a level playing field, they'd be in a world of hurt. But there isn't and the Citizens United decision was their best friend in the world. For Democrats and progressives, until we can strengthen the law, the only way we can fight back is one vote and one small contribution at a time. So please help put a Democrat over the top with $5 or $10 today to make sure our message gets heard.