Politico: DNC Having Worst Fundraising Year in a Decade

Money is not exactly flowing like water into the coffers of the Democratic National Committee. In fact, the committee is having its worst fundraising year in a decade, reports Politico.

The pace at which the DNC is raising cash this year is slow even by typical off-year standards and it has hardly scratched the surface when it comes to paying down the debt incurred in getting President Obama reelected.

This year, the DNC raised $35.4 million though the end of July.

Compare that to $51 million at the end of July 2009 and $36.3 at the end of July 2007 (both figures adjusted for inflation) and it’s clear these are not the best of monetary times for the committee.

The DNC entered August $18.5 million dollars in debt, which is up from $18.3 million in June, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

The committee also spent more than it raised in July — taking in $3.9 million but shelling out about $5.4 million.

DNC spokesman Michael Czin said the party’s debt came from the significant investments it made in field and state parties during the 2012 campaign.

“We spent it wisely and we’re proud of that,” Czin said. "We have a plan to get out of debt. We’re going to keep encouraging people to give.”

The DNC has posted seven consecutive months of low-level fundraising totals.

Conversely, the Republican National Committee outraised the DNC by about $2 million in July.

The RNC has actually posted better fundraising figures than the DNC in every single month in 2013.

The RNC is basically on pace with its 2011 fundraising hauls, a year in which the committee reduced a significant amount of debt that was accrued in the 2010 cycle.