Hugh Hewitt today writes a memo to the Republican members of the House of Representatives. He addresses the reasons the GOP is lagging behind the Democrats in raising money.
We all know you are getting crushed by the Dems when it comes to fundraising.
We also know you are working hard to turn this around. We also see that the Pelosi Democrats are significantly to the left of the public face they put on last fall, and that on a number of issues the GOP caucus has held together and scored wins.
So why is there this gap? Why isn’t the money flowing in with which to take back the House?
The answer has to be that people don’t give to unknowns, and they certainly don’t want to give to any GOP candidate who isn’t solid on the war, on border security, on spending and taxes. They aren’t buying –or sacrificing for– the hope that the candidates who emerge in 2008 will be the sort they are proud to back.
The key to getting some energy back in the donor base –small and large– is to identify the challengers on whose success will come the return of the majority.
Hugh has a solution.
You need to make the base believe you can win back a majority, and that takes candidates in districts currently held by Democrats. There are 233 Democrats and 202 Republicans. That means the GOP needs to find at least 16 new faces to take seats away from Democrats, and probably a couple of more given the weakness of some of the GOP incumbents.
So make some moves to prove you are serious about getting the majority back and not just protecting the incumbency of Members comfortable in the minority.
Establish a fund for challengers only and do the legal footwork necessary to segregate it from the NRCC’s general fund.
Read the whole post. Hugh has the right idea. I hope John Boehner, Roy Blunt and Tom Cole are listening.
BEAR TO THE RIGHT 