Mehlman to spend $60M, five times Dean’s $12M
By Alexander Bolton
The Republican National Committee (RNC) will spend its entire bank account, $60 million or more, helping Republicans try to retain control of Congress in the midterm elections.
The looming spending spree appears to have spurred Democratic House leaders to reach agreement over how much the Democratic National Committee (DNC) will help counter this onslaught.
The relationship between the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and DNC has been rocky. There is dispute over whether it took House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn’s (S.C.) intervention to broker the deal announced yesterday under which part of the DNC’s $12 million will be funneled to 40 House races. Targeted House Democratic candidates will receive about $60,000 from the party committee.
One Democratic official said Clyburn had to bring the sides together, but another official denied it.
The DNC money will also be spent on Senate and gubernatorial races, and voter turnout activities in battleground states.
It is an open question whether the deal between the DNC and DCCC will be enough to offset the financial advantage that the RNC cash will give Republican candidates this fall.
RNC chairman Ken Mehlman has put in place a plan to raise money aggressively throughout the fall and has made clear that he will not hold back any money for the 2008 presidential election.
In total, the RNC plans to spend more than $60 million on targeted federal races, a record for a national party committee in a midterm election, according to a GOP official familiar with their plans. The funds are “targeted for competitive federal races,” the official said, adding that half would pay for get-out-the-vote operations
Democrats, however, say they are counting on a major boost from their union allies. The AFL-CIO is planning to spend $40 million on get-out-the-vote operations, said Democratic officials.
