Political Equinox

Because of the fiscal juggernaut that is the Obama campaign, The NY Times recently reported that John McCain’s campaign is mapping out a campaign strategy that is closely tied with the Republican National Committee. This after his campaign finance co-chair resigned because of a conflict of interest based on new campaign rules regarding connections to lobbyists.

From the Times:

“Mr. McCain, who abandoned public financing in the primary but has indicated he would employ it in the general election, is aggressively building a joint fund-raising operation with the Republican National Committee and state party committees in four battleground states. These committees can raise money far in excess of the $2,300 limit imposed on individuals giving to Mr. McCain’s presidential campaign. Donors can write a single check of almost $70,000 to the committees that is divvied up to various entities.”

Although this will allow McCain to begin to combat the power of Obama’s fund raising, it will also come with a problem – the guys who write the checks for the Republican Party care about issues that may not be kosher with the vast American populace. McCain will have to reconcile his differences with the Religious Right to get their checks; he will also have to forgo some issues that may be important to him (ie environmental issues or Mexican boarder security) because they do not reflect core Republican ideology.

Constituencies that have been pandered to in the current administration – such as the fundamentalist Religious Right – might find such a setup to be advantageous in not only promoting their message but also marrying it to the presidency of McCain. They would force him to stay on the right, where his inclination in the general would be to go towards the center.

Any way one looks at the problem, this new relationship is greatly advantageous to Democrats. John McCain’s partial reliance on the RNC for money will sap the already desert dry resources for down ticket races, in an election year that has already seen multiple Republican defeats in usually staunchly conservative areas like Mississippi and Louisiana. Whereas the republicans have been struggling to gather the necessary war chests, the Democrats have had a successful two years building the funds for the DCCC and the DSCC respectively. With nearly 30 retiring Republican congressmen and 10 strongly contestable senate races Republican resources may be thin and defending those seats will be difficult.

But the Democrats should never count either John McCain or the Republicans out…

Tags: America, campaign finance, Congress, Democrats, environment, finance, John McCain, money, ny times, obama, president, republican, strategy