Cash On Hand

Even as the election cycle winds down to election day, the Republicans still have the advantage in funding. There has been some surge in fundraising for the Democrats, but not enough to offset the overall advantage. In the end, that may be what tips the scales.

Nevertheless, the Democrats' last-minute fundraising surge was not enough to overcome the GOP's earlier fundraising advantage. The three national Republican Party committees had $17 million more cash on hand than their Democratic counterparts as of Oct. 18, according to this week's financial reports.

What's more, Republican committees spent nearly twice as much on their toughest House races than Democratic committees did. The nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute calculated that Republican committees spent $1 million on average to help each of the 35 GOP incumbents who are considered to be most in danger of losing reelection bids. Democratic committees spent an average of about $574,000 on behalf of each of the party's challengers in those races.

In addition, most of the Republican candidates in the House's tightest contests reported having more money in the bank than their Democratic rivals.

With the midterm elections so near, both parties are pouring huge sums into the House's three dozen or so competitive races.

This ties in with the article I posted about earlier regarding how money is being spent and the hardball that goes on behind the curtain. Advertising is one thing, but a ground game is important, too. Depending on how money is being directed an overall superiority in resources may be what carries the day.