The Hill published an article highlighting some of the fundraising efforts of freshmen Democrats in the House. Apparently, many are doing quite well. David Loebsack (IA-02) has raised about $71,000. Kirsten Gillebrand (NY-20) has raised $65,000 in PAC money alone. Earl Perlmutter (CO-07) has raised $79,000. Charlie Wilson (OH-06) has raised $34,000. Paul Hodes has raised $35,000. Jason Altmire (PA-04) and Patrick Murphy (PA-08) have both raised $50,000 in PAC money alone. Zack Space (OH-18) and Steven Kagen (WI-08) have both raised $35,000 in PAC money.
As far as simple financial numbers go, this is good news. All of these candidates are vulnerable to some degree. So, if all of these House members are already off to good starts, they may be able to force out potentially strong challenges early on.
But the article also has some worrying relevations. For one thing, Nancy Boyda (KS-02) has raised only $13,000. Considering the presidential vote in her district (Bush won it by 20 points), Boyda is probably one of our top five most vulnerable Democrats. Plus, she will not have Sebelius’ coattails helping her and will instead have to contend with the Republican tide at the top of the ticket from the eventual Republican nominee and Senator Pat Roberts. Finally, she will possibly face a rematch against Jim Ryun. More over the flip…
However, the thing that is more disappointing to me than Boyda’s numbers (it’s early, give her some time) is where the other candidates are getting there money. First, relying heavily on PAC money does not give the best image. But beyond that, it’s a question of which PACs they’re getting donations from.
Both Gillebrand and Perlmutter have taken money from Altria, which represents the makers of Marlboro cigarettes. Loebsack and Perlmutter have received contributions from the American Bankers Association PAC while Perlmutter also has donations from Comcast and JP Morgan and Loebsack has donations from the American Association of Realtors.
It’s unsettling to see any elected officials taking money from cigarette makers. It’s worse to see Democrats, liberal Democrats at that, doing that. And while Comcast, et al. aren’t the scourge of Satan, I also don’t like the image of elected Democrats at their beg and call.
My suggestion for anyone else who feels the way I do, is to donate through the Netroots and other liberal PACs like MoveOn and Democracy for America. The more candidates and elected officials can get from the Netroots, the less they have to rely on PACs whose goals are sometimes/often/always contrary to the goals of progressives/working people/middle class/etc.
One should also note that Netroots heroes Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), John Yarmuth (KY-03), Joe Sestak (PA-07), John Hall (NY-19), and Tim Walz (MN-01) are not mentioned in the article. We need to act now to keep these people a)in Congress by making sure they have adequate resources to be re-elected and b)from becoming corrupted by negative interests.