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Republicans have twice-as-much money as Democrats

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October 18, 2000 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican National Committee entered the final month of the campaign with more than twice as much money to spend as the Democrats, funds that can be used to help George W. Bush's presidential campaign.

The RNC reported a bank account balance of dlrs 54.1 million at the beginning of October - with dlrs 25.6 million raised under federal contribution limits, which can be used to directly aid federal candidates.

The Democratic National Committee had just dlrs 22.5 million to spend. The party had dlrs 31.9 million in the bank, with dlrs 17.5 million in funds raised under federal limits. But the party also had debts of dlrs 8.9 million, meaning that it had dlrs 23 million to spend.

The Republicans' superior resources are allowing the party to spend more than dlrs 60 million on TV ads this fall, outspending the Democrats at least 2-to-1 in the final three weeks of the race.

Between Jan. 1, 1999, and Sept. 30, 2000, the RNC raised dlrs 247 million and the DNC took in dlrs 166 million.

Fueling the Republicans' fund-raising success has been the number of small contributions, which fall under federal contribution limits and can be used to help the party's nominees directly. The RNC took in 315,362 small donations, generated by direct mail or phone calls, last month.

"As more and more Americans hear the positive message of the Bush-Cheney ticket, the number of people supporting our efforts continues to grow," RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson said.

The Democrats also have gone after smaller donors, offering inexpensive tickets to major fund-raising concerts. A post-convention concert in Los Angeles featuring Barbra Streisand brought in dlrs 5.1 million, while a September concert at Radio City Music Hall the following month raised another dlrs 6.5 million.

"Essential to our success was reaching out to individuals who had never before given to the Democratic Party," DNC General Chairman Edward Rendell said.

The presence of Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the first Jew on the national ticket of a major political party, also has helped in fund-raising, especially among the Jewish community, already strong Democratic supporters.

"There's a certainly a tremendous positive response in the Jewish community to Joe Lieberman being on the ticket," said Michael Adler, a Miami fund-raiser. "That translates into people participating in the campaign."

On the Net:

Democratic National Committee: http://www.democrats.org

Republican National Committee: http://www.rnc.org