DNC Begins GOTV Check-Writing; DSCC Raises $8.8M; DCCC has $6M More On Hand Than NRCC

The Democratic National Committee opened its wallet this week, writing checks to state coordinated campaigns in Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

It's the first round of earmarks from the $12 million budgeted by Howard Dean, the DNC's chair, for mobilizing voters ahead of the November election. The money will fund early vote programs, help the parties find drop-off voters, track absentee ballots, and in November, get the darn Dem base out to the polls.

The Republican National Committee has also started to write checks for their joint statewide campaign offices -- Victory programs, in their parlance. But the party's budget for GOTV is more than two times larger than what the DNC plans to spend, according to Republican sources briefed on the matter. (Officials at the RNC declined to discuss budget numbers.)

DCCC chair Rahm Emanuel has pressured DNC Chairman Howard Dean to transfer money to his committee for use in specific races. The Democratic official would only say that "discussions" with Emanuel were continuing, although the DNC has publicly ruled out direct transfers. Dean has defended spending tens of millions on his 50 State Strategy, noting that trained DNC staff members have been walking precincts in states for months, registering voters and adding identifications to voter databases. Under Dean, the party has also spent more than $6 million revamping its national voter database system.

Including the hard dollars contained in state party coffers and the RNC's sizable cash on hand advantage, the GOP will have a financial edge of more than $45 million in total over the Democrats.

A side note: The parties began to release their fundraising numbers for the first six months of the year. In June, the DSCC raised $8.8 million -- its best month to date. The committee has $37.7 million on hand and has raised more than $73 million through the cycle. The DSCC spent $4.6 million. The NRSC said it raised $4.8 million, spent $3.1 million and had $19.9 million cash on hand. The committee has raised $62.6 million to date. The DCCC reported $32 million cash on hand. The NRCC raised $9.5 million and had $26.5M on hand.. [MARC AMBINDER]