Fundraising

The Republican National Committee (RNC) continues to trail badly in fundraising. It pulled in $7.9 million in August — of which $7.57 million came from contributions to the committee.

The Democratic National Committee, meanwhile, raised $10.9 million last month.

The RNC will have to rely heavily on debt to get it through the next six weeks. The committee has only about $4.7 million cash on hand, but has a $10 million line of credit it hasn't yet drawn upon, according to a party official.

The committee's cash on hand dropped about $500,000 in August from $5.29 million in July.

The DNC has $13.4 in cash reserves as it looks to help bolster the party’s chances of holding power. The committee also has a line of credit to reinforce its spending power.

The Democratic campaign committees rebounded from a slow July to best their Republican rivals in fundraising in August.

Since upsetting party-backed Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) in Delaware's GOP Senate primary Tuesday, Christine O'Donnell has raised nearly $2 million online. 

A source with knowledge of the campaign's online fundraising operation said that not only is the money is coming in as fast as it did for Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) ahead of his special election, but that O'Donnell's raising money online at a pace that's two to three times faster than Sharron Angle in Nevada after her win in the primary. 

A week before his special election with Democrat Martha Coakley in Massachusetts, Brown raised $1.3 million online in a single day with some 16,000 individual donors. 

O'Donnell's campaign said Friday that it expects to surpass the $2 million mark sometime this weekend and said some 30,000 donors have given since her primary win Tuesday. 

O'Donnell's campaign is utilizing the same online fundraising team that led online efforts for Brown and is currently raising money for Angle--the Indiana-based Prosper Group. 

Democrats, meanwhile, are anticipating that the interest in O'Donnell's race will taper off as the general election nears with one strategist saying Friday he expects the focus to return to "more realistic opportunities" on the Senate side for Republicans.   

Sarah Palin on Thursday will be in Kentucky to help raise money for Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul.

Palin was already set to be in Louisville for a speech at the National Quartet Convention but added the lunchtime fundraiser, according to the Paul camp. Details have yet to be released.



Palin endorsed the Tea Party-backed Paul in May and has donated to his campaign, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Meanwhile, Democrats are citing Paul in their own fundraising plea.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) identified Paul and Nevada Republican Sharron Angle as "real threats to everything we've come to count on in this country, from Social Security to civil rights."

Soliciting contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Schumer wrote in an e-mail to supporters, "We've got to hit our goal of raising $290,524 by midnight Saturday so we don't have to cede an inch to those from the hard right who want to destroy all that we've worked so hard to accomplish — like expanding health care and reforming Wall Street.

"This moment is so critical because this is when we figure out how much we can devote to each race."

House Minority Leader John Boehner (Ohio) appears to have no hard feelings toward Rep. Dan Lungren despite the California Republican's 2008 bid to usurp his job. 

Boehner will be in Sacramento on Friday night to headline a fundraiser for the eight-term congressman.

"Lungren's targeted, so we appreciate the leader taking the time to come through and help with the fundraising," Rob Stutzman, a Lungren spokesman, told The Sacramento Bee. "Obviously, we're getting outraised."

Lungren had $800,000 in cash on hand at the end of June, compared to $1.14 million for Ami Bera, his Democratic challenger.
 The congressman spent more than $1.3 million on his reelection in 2008.

Bera, as a member of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue program, is one of his party's top prospects this cycle. He's also received financial support from the Democratic leadership, with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (Md.) headlining an event for him last week.

The DCCC has also reserved air time in the Sacramento media market, which could be used to support Bera.

This will be Miller’s first visit to the nation’s capital since his stunning primary victory over Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) last month.

Gov. Chris Christie's (R-N.J.) 2010 campaign stops includes a drop in Iowa, a 2012 presidential state.

In one of the lone House districts Democrats are bullish on reclaiming this November, there's some positive fundraising news for the Democratic challenger. 

Hawaii state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa raised $332,887 during July and August, outpacing Rep. Charles Djou (R), who raised $205,676. 

While Djou still holds a cash-on-hand edge, Hanabusa cut into that advantage substantially given two solid months of fundraising. Hanabusa ended August with $403,653 in the bank to Djou's $427,637.  

Djou won a special election for the seat in May but was helped by an intra-party dispute between Hanabusa and former Rep. Ed Case (D). The national party preferred Case, but Hanabusa wouldn't exit the race, so the two ended up splitting the Democratic vote and Djou won with less than 40 percent. 

This fall, Democrats see their chances in the largely Democratic district greatly improved, and place the district alongside Rep. Joseph Cao's (R-La.) as one the party is hopeful it can win back in what is shaping up to be a brutal cycle for Democrats. 

After he lost the gubernatorial runoff in June, South Carolina Rep. Gresham Barrett said he would support fellow Republican Nikki Haley for governor. He apparently meant what he said.

The four-term congressman is listed as one of the "special guests" at a Washington fundraiser for Haley set for Sept. 22. The rest of the South Carolina GOP delegation is also attending the event, according to an invite. But Barrett's inclusion is notable because he faced Haley in the hard-fought primary and subsequent runoff.

The event is being billed as a "rooftop reception" at the offices of Nelson Mullins, a law firm with a substantial presence in the Southeast. Tickets range from $1,000 to $3,500. Haley is also set to attend a low-dollar fundraiser at a Capitol Hill Mexican restaurant that will feature Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.). 

Haley, the first female GOP gubernatorial nominee in the state's history, faces Democrat Vincent Sheheen in the race to succeed the term-limited Gov. Mark Sanford (R).

Experts say incumbency has become enough of a liability this year to trump the conventional advantage of money in the bank.