Flood coverage has dominated BSP this week, so we're spending the morning catching up with news that slipped through the cracks. Over at Paul Kane's Capitol Briefing in the Washington Post, we read Dems Crushing GOP in Congressional Fundraising:
In a secure, undisclosed beach location for this entire week, Capitol Briefing was determined not to even glance at a computer screen. But after 96 or so straight hours of overcast, rainy skies on the Eastern seaboard, strange things happen and pretty soon you find yourself looking at the Federal Election Commission's Web site.
And one thing jumps out from the latest FEC filings: House Republicans are flat broke, and there's no sign of better cash days in the near term.
Less than 15 months from Election Day, the House Republican campaign arm -- the National Republican Congressional Committee -- continues to effectively run a negative balance. The committee has just $1.97 million in its accounts, as of July 31, according to FEC reports it filed this week. But the NRCC is also sitting on a debt of $4.1 million.
The committee, which has been a key financial arm for attack ads and get-out-the-vote ground troops in previous elections, continues to raise money at a respectable clip, collecting $32 million for the year so far. But it also continues to spend money at a rapid pace, with $31.5 million in disbursements in the first seven months of 2007. A chunk of that went to paying down the debt -- which stood at more than $14.3 million at the end of last year. But even setting aside those debt payments, the NRCC still doled out more than $20 million.
At the Minnesota Monitor, Joe Bodell looked at a recent USAToday analysis of campaign fundraising and reported Freshman Dems Dominate Money Race; Bachmann, Walz Doing Well.
The Bush Dogs campaign catches the attention of conservative and moderate bloggers, who question Open Left for attacking what they term moderate Democrats. We can only imagine what the NRCC thinks while watching its online base scuttle attempts to brand Democratic freshmen as ultra-liberals, especially when the committee has burned through its cash-on-hand. Not all progressives go as far as some; Dave Mindemann at mnpACT!'s Progressive Political blog writes 2008: Flawed Democrats Must Win, calling out Walz and Klobuchar for their votes, but also calling for Dem wins in 2008. Update: Spot channels a visit to Amy and Tim from Paul.[/update]
At Eleventh Ave S, Andy Birkey noted GOP 4-pak member Brian Davis's anti-GLBT stance:
If you're living in Mankato, Rochester or anywhere else in the southern part of the state (First Congressional District), Brian Davis wants to be your representative. If you are an LGBT person, chances are he does not have your best interests in mind. Via Blue Stem Prairie: "Mayo Clinic cancer physician Brian Davis said he was committed to conservative values like protecting life, stem cell research, no same-sex marriages, securing our borders and remaining offensive in the Global War on Terror." Davis is running against Rep. Tim Walz, who has been an important ally to the LGBT community.
The sun is shining this weekend; we are going out to enjoy the day.
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