The latest Federal Election Commission numbers are in, and they show that Washington political committees continue to rake in cash. Not only is money begin gathered in bundles, a nice piece of change is already going back out the door. The trend arrows tell a story as well, with the Democrats' pointed up and the Republicans' headed down. According to the FEC, through the first third of 2007, Republicans have raised 61.2M and spent 46.5M, while Democrats have raised 59.4M and spent 36.5M. The comps on these nearly equal receipts are starkly divergent. For the Republicans, they represent a 25% decline over the same four months in 2005, and a 21% decrease compared to the first four months of 2003, the last presidential cycle. The Democratic numbers, by contrast, represent gains of 26% over 2005 and 126% over 2003. The charts below tell the tale for the six committees, including the Republican National Committee (RNC); the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC); the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC); the Democratic National Committee (DNC); the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC); and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

RBR observation: These committees are already spending cash but can also be counted on to hold significant funds in reserve for last minute use in the hottest of the hotspots. And they may even go beyond what's in the warchest. You may recall that last October and November, the Democratic committees in particular pulled out their credit cards to take advantage of conditions moving their way in the waning days of the campaign. Expect more of the same at the end of the 2008 battle.

Results, Months 1-4 of campaign cycle

Republican National Committee (RNC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	33,005,391	44,707,496	37,448,108
Disbursements	21,870,031	29,199,411	24,982,000
Cash on hand	14,243,578	30,175,396	17,329,875
Debts	0	0	0
National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	9,113,463	13,606,791	8,560,541
Disbursements	5,804,177	9,565,139	6,687,122
Cash on hand	3,419,198	5,058,628	2,630,670
Debts	0	0	0
National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	19,051,984	24,662,409	31,314,308
Disbursements	18,851,284	18,237,117	30,277,948
Cash on hand	1,602,318	9,610,908	3,300,077
Debts	7,275,000	0	1,000,000
Repubican total
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	61,170,838	81,426,790	77,322,867
Disbursements	46,525,492	56,001,667	61,947,070
Cash on hand	19,265,094	44,844,932	23,260,622
Debts	7,275,000	0	1,000,000
Democratic National Committee (DNC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	19,707,709	20,971,583	11,131,375
Disbursements	17,319,835	19,615,010	9,166,277
Cash on hand	6,098,174	7,408,383	3,525,577
Debts	3,000,000	0	0
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	18,288,845	13,229,212	6,281,781
Disbursements	6,270,469	6,211,949	3,942,975
Cash on hand	12,081,746	7,373,768	2,376,510
Debts	5,500,000	0	5,445,000
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	21,463,534	14,764,321	8,926,062
Disbursements	12,888,548	13,311,030	3,879,574
Cash on hand	9,352,997	3,112,828	5,925,405
Debts	5,158,609	4,033,333	5,994,796
Democratic total
	2007-2008	2005-2006	2003-2004
Receipts	59,435,088	47,165,116	26,288,484
Disbursements	36,453,852	37,337,989	16,938,092
Cash on hand	27,532,917	17,894,979	11,827,492
Debts	13,658,609	4,033,333	11,439,796

Source: Federal Election Commission