A resurgence of new and newly energized, individual small donors has encouraged the Republican National Committee and shown Michael Steele's ability to helm the party purse.
A resurgence of new and newly energized, individual small donors has encouraged the Republican National Committee, which demonstrated its long-held ability to raise big money in the first quarter of this year despite a tough go of it in the last two election cycles.
The new figures also are good news to Michael Steele, who was criticized early in his young chairmanship for being more show than go.
The RNC raised $6.7 million in March, up from $5.26
million in February, and has no debt. In all, it had $23.9
million cash on hand in the first quarter of 2009.
RNC spokesman Trevor Francis said donors gave on average $55 each.
"Small donors are the lifeblood of a political party," Francis said.
The Democratic National Committee raised $5.57 million in
March, plus $2 million handed over from President Obama's campaign. It raised $6.6 million in February, and is $6.9 million in debt after the first quarter of 2009.
So why the GOP success in filling its coffers? Republicans say their supporters are angry over the Obama administration's policies while Democrats attribute donor fatigue to their supporters after a half-trillion dollar presidential campaign year in 2008.
"Obama broke every record in existence and people are not in the mood to be giving money, because pretty much if you were a Democrat, you gave money in the last cycle," said Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers.
"Democrats are Republicans' best fundraisers," Francis
said. "I think to the degree that they continue their wrong course of more taxing and more spending I think our grassroots donors will continue to remain engaged."
The numbers also reflect well on Steele, who took over the RNC at the end of January and had a bit of a rough start, particularly wading into the areas of abortion and how to appeal to minority voters. Detractors suggested he was more of a showman than a fundraiser.
Steele told FOXNews.com that the earnings give the message the party isn't in the wilderness, which is "very, very important right now." He said he hopes the numbers signal confidence in his leadership.
"I don't put it all on one person and certainly there are a lot of people who are out there who have been very much involved in that process. But I think coming in the door, you know, we shook it up a little bit.
We've got some folks back on their heels. We took a few shots. Look, I got people talking about the party, 'Who is this crazy chairman?' You know, 'What are these guys doing?' That's good. We're saying something other than the party is in this lost place," Steele said.
Political analysts agree that Steele has surprised the pundit class.
"Michael Steele is more than just someone who can give a good speech. He can clearly raise a lot of money and has been," said Jeff Birnbaum, author of "The Money Men" and a FOX News contributor.
While Democrats say they haven't turned up the fundraising machinery just yet, both parties want to be in good financial shape for the year, with two gubernatorial races in the fall and 2010 midterms just around the corner. That's when 36 governorships, the entire House and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs.
FOX News' Molly Henneberg contributed to this report.
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