Republican Fundraising is Sluggish
Well, this is very good news…
Several of the GOP’s most highly touted candidates posted mediocre fundraising numbers in this year’s first quarter, raising questions about their ability to seriously compete in races that were once at the top of the Republican radar screen.
It’s apparent, by the lack of fundraising, that citizens throughout the country are finally rejecting the Republican agenda and their panacea for every social and economic problem that exists: tax cuts and war.
Steve Greenberg is running against Rep. Melissa L. Bean (D-IL). And as a messenger of hate and division, he is advocating more war in Iraq, “free market” solutions for health care, punitive immigration policies, and school voucher programs which would devastate public schools. And it is clear that the 8th District in Illinois is rejecting these policies because he only raised $113,000 in the first quarter and is practically broke.
Lou Barletta is another Republican hopefully that is only a disappointment for the RNCC. As the Mayor of Hazelton, PA and as a “champion” of immigration reform, he passed some of the toughest immigration laws the nation has ever seen and has even said that illegal immigrants are “destroying” Hazelton. All his harsh rhetoric has yielded him a paltry $143,000 in the first quarter of 2008, a third of what his opponent Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA) raised in the same time.
Another Republican challenger destined to fail is Dean Andal, former California Assemblyman. He thinks the U.S. should devote more funds to the already bloated defense budget, has endorsed a school voucher program, and is completely unconcerned with any environmental issues (he received a 9% approval rating by California League of Conservation Voters). Rather, he would love to deregulate everything and give huge tax cuts for businesses. He barely raised $100,000 in the first quarter of 2008 for his run against Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA).
This is good news for Democrats indeed and is indicative of the failure of Republicans to understand the true concerns of working American families. We don’t need more tax cuts for businesses and the rich, we don’t need more deregulation, we don’t need deceptive “free market” solutions that never work, we don’t need to abandon public schools, we don’t need punitive immigration policies, we don’t need division and spiteful rhetoric, we need people who will stand up and help America’s working families by understanding what’s actually important. Republicans will never really understand that.