Oh My! DeMint: Michael Steele Is Reason Why GOP Didn't Take Senate Too

There is a growing movement to oust Michael Steele out of the RNC Chair. Yesterday, Jim DeMint (R-SC) added his voice to the chorus:

The lack of a well-organized voter mobilization effort by the Republican National Committee could have cost the GOP “a few Senate seats,” Sen. Jim DeMint suggested Sunday.

Partly as a result, the South Carolina Republican suggested he wouldn’t support a second term for controversial RNC Chairman Michael Steele, saying on "Fox News Sunday" “I’m looking for some alternatives right now.”

“I haven’t decided who would support," DeMint said, "but we need a strong national Republican organization to help organize the energy of the tea parties and the other citizen activism that we are seeing out there right now. We need to make sure that we have a lot of boots on the ground.”

The senator said, “I appreciate Michael Steele’s service.” But he added the party’s get-out-the-vote effort lagged under Steele, asserting “where we lost a few Senate seats, our ground game was not as strong as it could have been. We were actually out manned on the ground.”

I actually think that it is a bit unfair to blame Steele for not taking back the Senate. There was hardly anyone before election day that thought that the Republicans would be able to overcome the 9-seat deficit to take back the Senate. Only 1/3 of the Senate was up and about half of those we'ree Republican incumbents. They would've had to flip almost all Democratic incumbents to do it. Three of those seats that were lost were from very heavily blue states of California, Delaware, and Connecticut, and Colorado leans Democratic most of the time. The only loss that was a complete waste of a seat was Sharron Angle's loss to Harry Reid in Nevada.

Now, he has been prone to gaffes during his 1st year, but he has seemed to have toned it down, over the past few months. I don't know, if I would agree with it, but his departure seems more and more likely with every passing day.

Small Donors Push RNC Ahead of DNC Raising Campaign Cash, Debunking the Democratic "Party of the Common Man" Myth?

This story is a couple of days old, but I saw something interesting that I didn't notice anyone else mentioning :

Here’s another data point: the Democratic National Committee said it raised about $8 million in September. That’s less than the Republican National Committee, which raised $8.8 million in the same time period, and the second month running the RNC has pulled ahead.

Overall, the Democrats are still ahead, with $139.4 million raised to date compared to $125 million for the GOP.

That edge is attributable in part to the Democratic fund-raising arms for House and Senate candidates, both of which out-raised their Republican counterparts by nearly two-to-one margins last month.

<*The GOP resurrection, meanwhile, is being aided by a rise in small donors.*> In some of the most competitive 2010 Senate races, Republican candidates raised more than the Democrats did in the most-recent quarter.

This is interesting because Obama was said to have a huge amount of small donors to thank for a huge influx of cash to their campaign war chest. This was used to "prove" that Obama had more "grassroots" support than McCain. Even though, it turned out to be a huge lie and fabrication.

If this is correct, this would show that the "everyday" American are, actually, more inclined to be conservative and side with the Republicans more than the liberal Democrats. That would fly in the face of the belief that Democrats are the party of the common man, and the Republicans are the party of the rich CEOs.

Michael Steele Gets Boost From Recent Woes As RNC Outraises DNC in February

GOP Tops Dems in February Fundraising The numbers are surprisingly poor results for the party now in control of the White House and both houses of Congress

FOXNews.com Friday, March 20, 2009

Republicans topped Democrats in national fundraising in February, according to numbers released Friday that show surprisingly poor results for the party now in control of the White House and both houses of Congress.

The Democratic National Committee raised only $3.26 million in February, the first month under its new chairman, former Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, according to the February campaign finance reports. Two years ago, under Chairman Howard Dean, the committee raised $5.5 million in February.

The Republican National Committee, on the other hand, pulled in $5.1 million last month, giving a boost to new Chairman Michael Steele after a rocky first few weeks of his tenure.

The DNC reported $8.6 million on hand and $7 million in debt, while the RNC reported $24 million in the bank and no debt.

A Democratic operative with knowledge of the party's fundraising capabilities told FOX News that the national committee expected a slow January and February for several reasons, including a list of donors that already had been asked to help cover the cost of the presidential inauguration in January.

And because of Virginia law, Kaine was not able to raise money until after the Virginia General Assembly session adjourned Feb. 28, which badly affected party fundraising this past month. (He essentially is a part-time party chairman until his term as governor ends later this year.) Democrats also blame the bad economy, noting that charities also have been reporting tepid giving.

The Democratic operative argued that the party simply hasn't tapped into its full fundraising list yet, nor has it taken advantage of President Obama's massive e-mail list. The DNC plans to kick off major fundraising efforts later this month at an event with the president.

FOX News' Serafin Gomez and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/20/gop-tops-dems-february-fundraising/
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My Thoughts

Excuses, excuses from the Democrats.

Will this GOP advantage last? Who knows? This is only one month, but it is promising. Michael Steele has received a bunch of heat of his flops lately, but this takes some steam out of the momentum that was building for his resignation. He still has away to go until the calls for his departure totally subside.

Tim Kaine's part-time status probably has something to do with the low amount of funds. However, the Democrats have severely stumbled out of the gates since the beginning of the political cycle.

People are upset with the earmark-filled porkulus and overspending bills and the total lack of bipartisanship brought about by the top Dems in Congress, such as Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, not caring one bit about even trying to get Republicans on board.

Obama's wheels has fallen and can't get up in his foreign policy agenda. He has offended enemies and allies alike. He has refused to acknowledge the mettle tests of Putin and N. Korea.

Obama's budget proposals has deficits that look like Bush squared.

People are becoming increasingly skeptical of the new administration. He's already lost almost all moderate Republicans. The independents are not far behind. Blue Dog Democrats are likely to start wavering, if things continue on this path of disaster.