Democrats Jarred By Drop In Campaign Donations

The Washington Post reports that harsh rhetoric about big business is costing Democrats campaign funds.

The Post reports that the majority of the fundraising declines were due to wealthy donors holding back.

According to the paper:

Democrats said a struggling economy is only partly to blame for the poor fundraising performance and acknowledged a more perilous problem: satisfaction among activists that the party now holds the White House, 60 votes in the Senate and 60 percent of the House.

"There was a little sense of complacency that set in despite our best efforts to warn people," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. "We made it very clear: Beware."

Meanwhile, the three national Republican Committees combined brought in $1.7 million more than their Democratic counterparts in August -- likely a result of the president's effort to reform health care. Democratic committees, however, have watched fundraising drop a combined 20 percent.

USAToday also noticed the GOP's August fundraising prowess.