http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/politics/campaign/02CORZ.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1083596531-n4BCrJXKsOVbk1Mx2PxRJg Corzine Earning Political Stripes as the Money Man
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: May 2, 2004
ASHINGTON, May 1 — <snip>Some independent experts now say the idea of a Democratic Senate, while still a long shot, is no longer so far-fetched.
"I would say right now Republican chances of holding onto the Senate have dropped from 80 to 90 percent to, say, 60 percent," said Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "Five or six months ago, you might have said, `Corzine, he's working hard, but he got dealt a bad hand of cards.' But he's got to have a real spring in his step today."<snip>
The churning was apparent; at the end of 2003, Senate Democrats were in the worst financial shape of any major party committee. <snip>
Yet in March, the committee raised $7.1 million, nearly $2 million more than its Republican counterpart. Steve De Micco, who ran Mr. Corzine's 2000 campaign, says Mr. Daschle made "an inspired choice, because Jon is somebody who has the potential to bring money into the party from entirely new sources."<snip>