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Howard Dean's Dismal Fundraising
After eight months as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, how is Howard Dean doing? Poorly -- at least from a financial perspective.
Republicans are handily winning the fundraising race by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, reports the Washington Post. That massive imbalance has caught the attention of Democratic leaders, who are worried the party will suffer as a result in the 2006 midterm elections.
Dean, a former Vermont governor, assumed the top DNC job amid questions from leading Democrats who wondered if he was suited for a job that traditionally has centered on fundraising. The latest figures are an indication those concerns were well founded.
From January through September, the Republican National Committee raised $81.5 million, with $34 million remaining in the bank. The DNC, by contrast, showed $42 million raised and $6.8 million in the bank.
"The degree to which the fundraising has not been competitive is obviously troublesome," former Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., told the Post. He expressed confidence in Tom McMahon, Dean's executive director at the DNC.
One House Democratic leadership aide put it more bluntly: "There is plenty of time, but the red flashing sirens should be going off there."
After eight months as chairman of the Democratic National Committee, how is Howard Dean doing? Poorly -- at least from a financial perspective.
Republicans are handily winning the fundraising race by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, reports the Washington Post. That massive imbalance has caught the attention of Democratic leaders, who are worried the party will suffer as a result in the 2006 midterm elections.
Dean, a former Vermont governor, assumed the top DNC job amid questions from leading Democrats who wondered if he was suited for a job that traditionally has centered on fundraising. The latest figures are an indication those concerns were well founded.
From January through September, the Republican National Committee raised $81.5 million, with $34 million remaining in the bank. The DNC, by contrast, showed $42 million raised and $6.8 million in the bank.
"The degree to which the fundraising has not been competitive is obviously troublesome," former Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., told the Post. He expressed confidence in Tom McMahon, Dean's executive director at the DNC.
One House Democratic leadership aide put it more bluntly: "There is plenty of time, but the red flashing sirens should be going off there."
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