The universal challenge: Fundraising in a recession

PHILADELPHIA—From the most high-profile political favorite to the lowliest underdog, there’s one thing every candidate for office has in common, one reality they all have to confront: They’re asking for money at a terrible time.

As candidates lay the groundwork for the 2010 elections, they are confronted with the harshest economic climate in decades, one that by almost all accounts makes fundraising more difficult. How much more difficult is a matter of some dispute—many of the prolific fundraisers have phone books of wealthy contributors who can still afford to fork over some campaign cash. But whether approaching big-money donors or small contributors, candidates agree that, if nothing else, a different attitude and approach is needed when soliciting those donations.

“It’s hard, this is a very very difficult environment to be raising money in,” Pat Meehan, a likely GOP gubernatorial candidate, told pa2010.com in a recent interview at his law office here (see video at bottom). “There’s a lot of people [who] are going through very difficult times and the environment in which you engage people is often with those that have some means. The fact of the matter is there’s a lot of people out there that are really hurting right now, and the issue is not so much how you’re raising money. The issue is an appreciation for how difficult many people have it out there right now.”

Joe Torsella, a Democratic Senate candidate who has posted impressive early fundraising numbers, said brining in contributions was still harder than ever before, including the times he has run fundraising campaigns for other organizations.

“It’s certainly harder, and I’ve done fundraising not just in [political campaigns] but in almost civic endeavor I’ve been involved with,” Torsella said in a phone interview. “It has not been easy.”

But both Torsella and Meehan seem to have managed just fine. Meehan’s exploratory campaign said last month that it had already surpassed $700,000 in donations and Torsella’s campaign said it collected more than $600,000 in a period of six weeks.

So are things really that different? It seems to depend on who’s asking for the money. Political parties and their related campaign committees have seen about a 25 percent drop in donations from two years ago, The Washington Post reports. Donations to candidates, meanwhile, appear to be climbing or at least holding steady. A Washington Independent analysis of fundraising hauls 10 Congressional incumbents in competitive districts found an 18 percent increase in contributions to those candidates compared to two years ago.

Longtime Democratic political consultant Larry Ceisler said that viable candidates should be able to keep the campaign cash flowing, challenges aside.

“It’s alway difficult to raise money,” he said. People don’t really want to give money to campaigns, and now they have a built in excuse not to. But if someone’s a good fundraiser, and they’re credible and consistent., they’ll be able to raise money.”

The more successful fundraisers would seem to support that argument. Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) raised almost $600,000 in the first quarter of the year, and that was while he was leaning away from a run for the Senate. He has more than $3 million in the bank. Senator Arlen Specter continues to raise money at an impressive clip, with more than $6 million in the bank.

“The Senator has raised the money to run this race, which then allows National Republican money to flow to other states and other races,” Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas said recently.

Republicans are quick to say that the Democratic victories last year have helped their cause financially.

“We’re having no problems raising money,” state GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said. “People are very concerned with what [President] Obama’s doing.”

G. Terry Madonna, a Franklin & Marshall College pollster and political analyst, said the relatively wealthy profile of most political contributors would inoculate campaigns from the recession.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be as tough to raise money from the political class as you might think,” Madonna said. “Many of these campaigns are on well on their way to raising money. I don’t see a real diminution of that.

“Whether or not individuals will contribute money or not remains to be seen,” he added, “but i don’t think, at the moment anyway, that the recession will have a significant impact on fundraising.”

In the day of the extended campaign and in a large state with a solid half-dozen media markets, running for office is a costly proposition. Most fundraisers and analysts peg the cost of U.S. Senate race somewhere between $15-25 million. A gubernatorial race will probably cost less, but could still top $20 million for a winning candidate. One certainty is that state candidates have it far easier than federal candidates. While there are virtually no limits on individual contributions to gubernatorial candidates, House and Senate candidates can only collect $2,400 from individual contributors per election year (the limit rises gradually with inflation).

“Federal fundraising, by definition, is not easy because it involves working in a system of limits,” Torsella said.

Regardless of their fundraising successes, most political insiders think current candidates will be hard-pressed to match the bar set by Gov. Ed Rendell. Through the various political action committees he controlled, Rendell raised millions for his 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial runs.

“It’d be hard for any candidate to come close to the numbers that our Governor got throughout the years,” state Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney said.

Rendell, Madonna agreed, “has no equal as a fundraiser.”

Are you a political fundraiser in the state wanting to chime in? Make your voice heard by posting a comment or e-mailing voices@pa2010.com.

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