Those are the words of political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. And he is talking about the race to unseat our supposed moderate Congressman Mike Castle. And I wholeheartedly agree. Karen and Jerry may be nice people. They may have deeply held beliefs and principles deserving of our respect. Indeed, we respect them for even running for political office in the first place. But if you have no money, you have no chance, especially against an incumbent who has a MILLION AND A HALF in the bank!
The eight-term Delaware lawmaker crushed his Democratic competitors last quarter, ending the period with $1.55 million in the bank compared with Democrat Jerry Northington’s $10,036 and Karen Hartley-Nagle’s negative $700, according to campaign finance reports filed this week with the Federal Election Commission. No report could be found for challenger Michael Miller.
The figures aren’t a good sign for Democrats hoping to pose a credible challenge.
(Emphasis Added).
Negative $700? Jesus. Karen, you really need to consider whether you should remain in this race. To run against a sitting incumbent, you will need hundreds of thousands, even in Delaware. And especially against an incumbent who continues to raise money as if he did have a real threat to his reelection. Apparently you only have one person besides yourself donating to your campaign: your state treasurer. And Jerry, you only raised $4,500 of money raised from others and not yourself.
Meanwhile…against such horrible fundraising by his challengers, why is Castle going gangbusters on raising money? Surely, he can ease up on the gas pedal, right? Hell, he can spend $50,000 this fall and win reelection. He has a $1.5 million cash on hand. Surely he does not ever need to raise money again, either this year or in 2010. So what, pray tell, other office is the Congressman angling for? Given his adherence to the “Delaware Way,” he will not challenge Carper or Biden. He won’t be running for Governor again, or any lower state office. So he must believe that our next President will be Barack Obama, and he must believe that President Obama will select Joe Biden for his cabinet, forcing a special election for the seat in 2010 between Governor Markell or Carney’s appointee and a Republican.
Castle’s fundraising indicts a continued desire for higher office, and his lack of faith in the prospects of his party’s Presidential nominee this fall.