The Democrats have been whining, disingenuously, about fund-raising -- not the scandal, but the real thing. Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary, insisted the other day that President Clinton has to continue raising campaign funds like a madman because "Republicans are outspending Democrats five to one." Democratic senator Dick Durbin of Illinois was even gloomier: "No matter what we do, the Republicans will still outspend us five to one," he said. Five to one? Can this new Democratic talking point -- already being repeated mantra-like by some journalists -- be right?
The answer is no. It's a canard designed to promote Democrat-style campaign- finance reform. The five-to-one figure comes from 1997 races for governor of Virginia and New Jersey and for a House seat on Staten Island -- but it doesn't refer to what the candidates raised and spent. In New Jersey, for instance, public financing meant the candidates spent the same. And the figure doesn't take into account the money labor unions devoted to 1997 races. Nope, the basis for the claim is simply this: The Republican National Committee spent five times more than the Democratic National Committee in those contests, with much of the disparity resulting from $ 800,000 the national GOP spent on TV ads in the Staten Island race (where the DNC spent zero). That's all, and even that isn't likely to happen again. In 1996, the DNC spent roughly the same amount as the RNC.