By Will Lester

The Democratic committee that handles races for the U.S. Senate holds more than a 2-1 financial advantage over its GOP counterpart at the start of this midterm election year.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has $25 million in the bank and raised $44 million in 2005. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has $10.5 million in the bank after raising $35.5 million last year. Neither committee reported any outstanding debt.

Democrats said it’s the first time in their memory they have had such an edge over the GOP in cash on hand.

“Americans don’t like what they’re seeing in Washington and know that Democrats are the party of change,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic campaign committee.

The stakes for the two parties are high in the Senate contests. The GOP now holds a 55-44 advantage in the chamber, with one Democratic-leaning independent. Both Democrats and Republicans say about a dozen seats may be closely contested this year, including open seats and those that one party hopes to wrest from the other.

Link

Those who follow politics, and especially conservative happenings, know Democrats always pull to the right every election year. Bottom line - conservativism sells. That is why you’ll see Hillary Clinton, for example, try to promote so-called moderate legislation in regards to illegal immigration, defense funding, and domestic issues.

I see problems in the GOP, and the problems don’t just relate to funding. Moderate Republicans, including liberals like Arlen Specter, have lost their base. In reality, it is the people who want, need I say demand, limited government, low taxes, and a strong defense who vote for conservative candidates. However, it seems the Republican Party is giving conservative voters an excuse to look elsewhere this November.

My feeling is the GOP simply does not have much to run on this election year. Their collective fiscal record is dismal, with federal spending up some 43% over the last few years. Pork-laden legislation and partisan bickering have not rendered any better results. Whatever happened to the 1994 Republicans who promoted the “Contract With America?” Conservatives basically control all branches of government, yet they refuse to cut out the pork and produce sound, fiscally conservative, spending appropriations or veto any pork-filled legislation (where is your veto Mr. President?).

In summary, the Republican Party and conservatives in general, must return to conservative ideals. This means getting back to being fiscally conservative, cutting spending where appropriate, not selling out to the special interests, promoting limited government and tax cuts, and demonstrating why they call themselves conservatives in the first place. If conservatives do not heed this advice, I fear another party may control Congress in January.