GOP lawmakers panicking over Dem's huge cash advantage as election looms: 'A major, major problem'

According to a report from Politico, Republican lawmakers on the November ballot are in a panic over the fact that their Democratic opponents are awash in cash three weeks before the election while they are still begging for support from their backers.

With Politico's James Arkin and Elena Schneider dubbing what the GOP is facing a "green tsunami," the report states that the Republican leadership met in April to discuss fundraising for the November election and were given a warning then that the party had fallen behind in digital fundraising.

"Six months later, the green tsunami is here. And it’s threatening to wipe out the Republican Senate majority," the report states.

According to the report, Republicans are facing a perfect storm that arose out of the public's disgust with Donald Trump, the coronavirus pandemic that has killed over 215,000 Americans and crippled the economy, the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the growing unpopularity of some sitting senators who allied themselves with an even more unpopular president. Those factors, and more, have led voters to open their wallets and flood Democrats with cash.

"Propelled by the wave of money, Democrats have suddenly expanded the Senate battlefield to a dozen competitive races, burying long-contested states like Iowa and Maine in TV ads while also overwhelming Republican opponents in states like Alaska, Kansas and South Carolina that are suddenly tightening," the report states before adding that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has expressed displeasure at the turn of events that could end with him stripped of his powers in the Senate.

"On a call with lobbyists and donors last week, McConnell grumbled that GOP incumbents were getting beaten financially across the board in every competitive race, citing their edge on ActBlue, the preferred Democratic fundraising platform, according to three people who participated in the call," Politico reports.

According to one GOP lobbyist the cash disparity is a "major, major problem for us."

One complaint Republicans have is that they did not prepare to ramp up collecting more cash if the political tides turned against them or to react to events on the ground.

“You get to a certain point where the die is cast,” explained one Republican strategist. “You can’t capitalize on a huge moment like SCOTUS vacancy if you haven’t spent the last 6 months or 12 months building the asset to maximize the value of it. There’s a limit to what you can accomplish if you haven’t done the work.”

Even more frustrating is the fact that longtime big-money GOP donors have been more tightfisted as of late.

“I think the donor community, at times, doesn’t appreciate that volatility extends across the country and not just in four or five Senate seats,” explained one GOP consultant.

"For some Republicans, the money is exacerbating broader issues as the party battles to hold the majority: Trump’s sagging poll numbers, an environment tilted against them, and a map with more and more incumbents under duress and only two legitimate offensive opportunities." Politico reports with one lobbyist lamenting, "It's red alert at this point. I don't think anyone has written off the Senate, but everyone knows the snapshot in time is pretty bleak and things need to stabilize pretty quickly.”

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