The More Things Change
Posted on | April 23, 2007
It’s all about the money, and the shift in control of Congress means that Democrats are now raking in at least as much as Republicans did, says Ken Silverstein:
Last spring, with Republicans controlling both houses of Congress, I wrote an item saying that for corporations and federal contractors looking for favors in Washington, it was hardly even worth buying a Democrat anymore. But the November 2006 Democratic victory changed all that. Political fundraising numbers were released last week and they show that during the first quarter of 2007, Democrats raised slightly more money overall ($47.7 million) than Republicans ($47.4 million). Compare that to the first quarter of 2003, when the GOP trounced the Democrats in the hunt for cash $54 million to $19 million.
Fundraising figures for key members of Congress are particularly striking. For example, during the entire 2005-2006 period Congressman Steny Hoyer of Maryland, then merely a member of the lowly minority party, raised a grand total of $2.3 million. Now that he’s Majority Leader, Hoyer was able to raise $929,631 during the first quarter of this year alone—more than any other member of the House of Representatives. At that rate, Hoyer will raise over three times more during this election cycle than he did during the last one.
What makes Hoyer’s current pace even more notable is that he raised all that dough during a traditionally light fundraising period. Hoyer won’t even face the voters again for another 19 months and he’s already got a lock on the seat (he won last November with 84 percent of the vote, versus 16 percent for a Green Party candidate). But of course, Hoyer’s donors aren’t giving him money for his re-election campaign; they’re making tribute payments in recognition of his enhanced status in Congress, and down payments on favors they’ll be looking for down the road.
Bleah. Depressing.
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