Slog - Comments on Money, Money, Money (and Calls) http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an There's a strong sense developing in Democratic circles that money could be the difference between a narrow Democratic takeover of the House and a blowout Democratic takeover of both the House and Senate. Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, says conditions are ripe for his party to grab more than 40 seats in Congress on Nov. 7. If true, that's an astounding reversal of fortune for the Democrats, who only need 15 seats to get a one-vote majority in the House (and until recently haven't been sure they would even get that). But with Republicans imploding and... Copyright 2008 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:20:08 -0800 Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:20:19 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by SDA in SEA Well, the DNC/DCCC/DSCC might be able to talk some of the unopposed democrats to give up some of their war chests, but it is unrealistic to expect to get all of it, it what money they get will come with strings attached.

Our own Jim McDermott, for example, is for all practical purposes unopposed. And he probably has surplus money in his campaign coffers that probably looks like an easy target, no? But he's still being hounded by the Republican lawsuits (you've written about it in The Stranger and slogged about it several times), and is constantly being bled for legal fees. So he might be persuaded to give up some money, but he'll need to keep some on hand. Likewise, I'm sure there are lots of other "unopposed" Dems around the country who have legitimate need to hold on to at least some of their war chests.

And while we might hope they'll give up the cash out of the spirit of party loyalty, that isn't how it works. It works like this: "I'll give you some of my excess campaign money if you support me to be the head of xyz commission/support my favorite pet legislation/support more pork for my district."

It would be great if some of these candidates give up some cash to help more needy Dems, but I'd hate to see them start off their newly won majority mired in all sorts of back-room deals.

]]> SDA in SEA http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478402 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478402 Politics Thu, 19 Oct 2006 12:40:11 -0800 Comment by Will in Seattle In reality there's way more cash in Blue hands than there is in Red hands. The burn rate by Reds resembles their "fiscal discipline" restraint - e.g. we're talking dot com burn on the Red side. And that's just to keep from being slaughtered.

]]> Will in Seattle http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478540 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478540 Politics Thu, 19 Oct 2006 16:55:58 -0800 Comment by Read the whole thing What the person reading open secrets failed to read was the more important number for John Kerry, cash on hand. He has raised about $8 million in 2006, but he has already given that to candidates. He only has about $140,000 left.

Way to make a story out of nothing. I would be curious if they added up the other money the same way, by looking at money raised rather than cash on hand.

]]> Read the whole thing http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478575 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478575 Politics Thu, 19 Oct 2006 18:27:10 -0800 Comment by neo-realist The dems need a blowout vote in their favor to counter the diebold vote flipping and voter suppression of the republicans to have a chance of majorities in the house.

]]> neo-realist http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478600 http://slog.thestranger.com/2006/10/money_money_money_an#c478600 Politics Thu, 19 Oct 2006 20:20:19 -0800