Democrats outpace GOP in fundraising

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Democratic Party committees have raised $24 million more than their Republican counterparts for the 2012 U.S. elections, records show.

That's more than twice as big a lead as Democrats held at comparable points in the past two election cycles, Politico reports.

Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had raised $129 million this year through July.

During the same period, their Republican counterparts -- the Republican National Committee, the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee -- raised a combined $105 million.

Republicans say the Democrats enjoy a big advantage in raising money because of their control of the White House and note President Barack Obama has done much more fundraising than the previous five presidents during their first terms.

Privately, however, some Republicans worry about whether the gap could hurt their candidates' chances.

Politico pointed out raising money has become less centralized, as it now comes not only from parties and candidates' committees but more and more from independent groups that, unlike party committees, can receive unlimited amounts.

Nonetheless, party committees still play a huge role because they can coordinate directly with campaigns, and independent groups cannot.