The enemy of your enemy...

Whitehouse holds fundraising lead for Senate fight

Democratic Senate candidate Sheldon Whitehouse cracked the million-dollar fundraising mark for the second quarter of 2006, possibly on his way to a healthy cash advantage for the fall campaign.

The former attorney general's receipts overshadowed Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee's best stretch of fundraising to date and underlined the zeal that Democratic contributors around the country have taken to the cause of seizing majority control of the Senate.

...

On the Republican side...the classic dangers of a bloody primary are "just a given" in the race between Chafee and Cranston Mayor Stephen P. Laffey, Duffy said. "The danger to whoever emerges from it is that you may be broke and you're a little bit battered and your 'negatives' are higher," Duffy said, meaning that that attacks of a primary tend to move the electorate to negative views of winner and loser alike.

...

Laffey's campaign said he has between $900,000 and $1 million in the bank, after taking in about $360,000 -- his fourth consecutive quarter in the $300,000 to $400,000 range. So while Whitehouse and Chafee surged, Laffey essentially held steady, suggesting the possibility that he has hit his ceiling as a fundraiser, Duffy said.

...

Another telling figure for the Republicans is the breakdown of money they have available, under federal election law, to spend in the Sept. 12 primary and in the general election.

Chafee reported that he has $1.1 million for the primary and $300,000 for the general. Laffey reported that he has between $670,000 and $770,000 for the primary and about $230,000 for the general.

The figures raise the prospect that either man, as winner of the GOP primary, would start the general election against Whitehouse -- should he defeat underdog Sheeler -- with a big financial problem.

Although Laffey is running neck and neck with Chafee in a June poll, he didn't help himself much last week when he more or less suggested last week that the only good moderate, elderly Republican is a dead moderate, elderly Republican. Even if his electability quotient drops to nothing, however, he sure has enough cash on hand to bloody up Linc in the near term to discourage the Republican base from showing up in November. Given that Chafee is now in a dead heat with Whitehouse, he can't afford to lose any Republican votes, even if they're holding their noses when they cast their ballots.