Democrat donors cool to super pacs

Politico:

Democrats railed against deep-pocketed Republican groups in 2010, but this year conceded it was time to compete, rolling out their own network of super PACs and other groups that can take unlimited cash.

But so far, their big money groups are low on one thing: big donors.

Initial fundraising pitches have been met with skepticism, even occasional hostility, from some of the party’s most reliable wealthy backers. Some donors worry about a repeat of 2004, when massive outside spending failed to unseat then-President George W. Bush. Others were discouraged by President Barack Obama’s early attacks on outside money. Then there are more philosophical concerns about unlimited money in politics or the possibility that the new groups might help candidates donors deem too moderate, like Blue Dogs.

Whatever the reason, the apprehension has left Democrats at an early, but significant, fundraising disadvantage to Republican outside groups, causing widespread concern in liberal circles that if the pace of six- and even seven-figure checks doesn’t pick up, the party could be in serious jeopardy of losing the White House and the Senate next year.

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This tends to offset the apparent advantage Democrats have in direct contributions to Obama, the DNC and Congressional organizations.  Karl Rove's Crossroads pac has already spent more than the Democrats groups have raised combined.