The start of a donor 'exodus'?

[babylonsister]

Posted with permission.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/02/14184361-the-start-of-a-donor-exodus?lite

The start of a donor 'exodus'?
By Steve Benen
-
Tue Oct 2, 2012 1:25 PM EDT



With 35 days to go before Election Day, Mitt Romney's trailing, but President Obama's advantage is hardly insurmountable. If Romney can catch a few breaks and convince his backers to stick with him for another five weeks, anything's possible.

Fox Business, however, reports that major Romney donors are showing signs of giving up.

The Romney campaign is experiencing what some officials believe could be the beginning of a mass exodus of big money donors diverting their cash away from the Republican presidential hopeful and toward Republican candidates for the House and Senate races more likely to win in November, the FOX Business Network has learned.

It's worth emphasizing that the evidence, at least for now, is entirely anecdotal, and nothing has been quantified. Fox Business talked to "a major player in Romney's New York fundraising circles," who confirmed that some donors have "backed away from financial commitments" to instead focus on congressional races, but we don't yet have a sense of the full impact.

The same report quoted "another person with direct knowledge of the matter" who said the donor shift "is more geographically broad based, and reflects an increasing degree of anxiety."

"This isn't just a New York trend," this person said. "It's beginning to occur all over the place."

If accurate, the so-called "exodus" would be easy to understand. There is a real threat that Republicans, if they invest heavily in the presidential race that's slipping away from them, could lose the opportunity to make GOP gains in the House and Senate.

It seems premature for the Republican donors to simply give up -- Romney's deficit in national polls this week is only a few points -- but the tipping point may be near.

[progressivebydesign]

1. it's obvious. All he does now is small rallies and TONS of fundraisers. nt

[lunatica]

2. Mitt the MoneyPitt

[kurt_cagle]

3. Donations = Access

Especially on the Republican side. A lot of donors to Romney looked at him early on as being a shoe-in to win against Obama and figured that getting on board early would increase their access in a new Republican administration, regardless of their own political feelings. As Romney stumbles, a lot of them are going to start siphoning money not to down-ticket races but to Obama, not wanting to be on the losing side of a bet gone wrong. That's the real danger that Romney faces - he's now sending at least a portion of what he thought was sure money directly to his opponent.