Republicans in red states keep trying to attack Democratic House candidates for raising money from out of state, but it’s looking an awful lot like Republicans are really just mad that Democrats aren’t giving up and going away. Instead, Democratic candidates are raising some eye-popping amounts of money and threatening a swath of Republican seats, leaving those Republican attacks looking suspiciously like sour grapes.
Attacks like this, from a Texas Republican House candidate: “Every time you see one of those trendy little hipster black-and-white Beto [O'Rourke] signs around this district—that's from the $10 million he raised in the second quarter, from 221,000 donors came from all over the country, trying to attack Texas values.” What goes unmentioned is that Sen. Ted Cruz had, through the first half of the year, raised a higher percentage of his money from out of state than O’Rourke.
That’s not to say Republicans don’t have something to be legitimately upset about, Dave Weigel reports:
Republicans expected 2018 to be rough, but they had hoped the Democratic fundraising would taper off before October. This spring, as Democrats faced dozens of expensive primaries, Republicans hoped that the winners would run out of resources, take left-wing positions and be vulnerable for super PAC attacks that could define them early. In nearly every close race, Democrats avoided those problems.
Republicans thought they’d be taking their unlimited dark money and beating the snot out of Democrats with dirty attack ads that Democrats couldn’t afford to push back on. That’s not the way it’s working out, even though the Republican super PAC attack ads are dirtier than ever. And the fear that inspires is why Republicans who are raising their own money out of state while also benefiting from super PAC money from who-knows-where are whining about Democratic small-dollar fundraising.
Keep it coming! Can you give $1 to each Daily Kos-endorsed House and Senate candidate?