Many GOP Donors Yet to Open Wallets
Even Bush 'Rangers' Are Staying Away
By Chris Cillizza and Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, October 17, 2007; Page A01
More than a third of the top fundraisers who helped elect George W. Bush president remain on the sidelines in 2008, contributing to a gaping financial disparity between the GOP candidates and their Democratic counterparts.
Scores of Bush Pioneers and Rangers are not working for any Republican candidate, citing discontent with the war in Iraq, anger at the performance of Republicans in Congress and a general lack of enthusiasm. More than two dozen have actually made contributions to Democrats.
Matt Fong, a former California state treasurer, 1998 U.S. Senate candidate and two-time Bush Pioneer, said that after months of disappointment in the Republican Party, he had hoped to be recharged by the new crop of presidential candidates.
"I have yet to get interested in any of them," he said. "I'm just not happy with the direction of our party. I think we have a huge credibility problem, which I have not seen any of the candidates show the ability to rise above."
Democrats now have more than twice as much money to spend in the upcoming primaries as Republicans do, according to Federal Election Commission reports released this week. Some leading Republicans said they fear that a lack of enthusiasm could translate to indifference from rank-and-file Republicans in next year's election.
"The Republican brand is not selling very well," said Christine Todd Whitman, a former New Jersey governor, Bush Cabinet member and 2004 Ranger. "There are a lot of frustrated people. They are not seeing anybody who has sent them over the top."
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