Dems, Obama Still Have Millions In Cash

Posted by Chris Bowers, Open Left at 5:22 AM on December 6, 2008.

Obama still has $30 million on hand, according to his latest Federal Election Commission filing:

And as of Nov. 24, the last day included in this report, the Obama campaign had nearly $30 million left in the bank.

Not to be outdone, Open Secrets lists Democratic Party committees with over $90 million combined cash on hand:

Democratic National Committee: $11.01 million
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $23.35 million
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee: $8.36 million

Of course, all of this is overshadowed by the Republican National Committee, which for some reason still has over $59 million in the bank. Either they were confused about when the election was taking place, or they simply decided to pass on this effort and save their resources for a later time.

The obvious move for the Obama campaign and Democratic parties in this surprisingly cash-flush, postelection environment would be to rehire the 200 state party organizers that form the core of the 50-state strategy. Clearly, cost was not an issue in their termination, as the Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign combine for over $40 million in the bank as of Nov. 24. The program was simply cut, and the 50-state strategy appears to be in serious jeopardy.

Now, even in an economic downturn, this is actually not a bad time to be looking for work as a Democratic political professional. However, not everyone in politics wants to move to D.C. Some, myself included, enjoy being a political professional while living out here in the provinces. These state party jobs were not only key in building up Democratic parties around the country, but in supporting a broad, nationwide talent pool for Democratic organizers.

Ending the 50-state strategy despite huge amount of cash on hand smacks of the Obama campaign's original decision to not use 527s during the general election. A few months later, the Obama campaign relented, and "called in the cavalry." So, this is at least the second instance where the Obama operation has decapitated an essential piece of progressive infrastructure. Hopefully, this will be the second time when they relent. The money is certainly available.

The Democratic Strategist has some good thoughts on this, too.

Tagged as: democrats, obama, rnc, dnc, dccc, washington d.c., millions, dscc