MEMO
from
Republican
National
Committee
February 10, 2012
MEMORANDUM
FROM: Sean
Spicer, RNC Communications Director @seanspicer
TO:
Interested Parties
RE: Weekend
Messaging Memo – Obama Campaign Failures
If
you’ve been following the Republican race lately, you may have missed
another story: Barack Obama’s struggling campaign.
The
cogs in the Obama campaign apparatus are spinning at full speed, but
they just haven’t produced the money, message, or momentum of
2008. A
failed presidency is producing a failing campaign.
Money
Woes
In
2008, Barack Obama pledged to uphold the tradition of public
financing. Then, when he discovered he could raise millions more
without it, he broke his promise, blowing up the campaign finance
system in the process.
2012
brings another installment of Obama’s campaign finance
hypocrisy. In
2010, he called Super PACs a “threat to democracy.” Now, realizing
the
shortcomings of his own campaign fundraising, he has warmly embraced
the Super PAC Priorities USA.
The
trend is appalling: Barack Obama only stands on “principle” when he can
afford to. A few million dollars can buy a change of heart.
And
his reelection desperately needed a few million. In four out of
the
last five months, the RNC outraised the DNC. In the fourth
quarter, the
RNC outraised the DNC. And the RNC and the Republican candidates
outraised the DNC and Barack Obama. December was the first
cash-positive month for the DNC since June.
The
poor fundraising isn’t for lack of trying. Obama has attended over
80
fundraising events since declaring reelection. In 2011, he held
more
fundraisers in the year before an election than each of his last five
predecessors.
The
support just isn’t there for Obama. So he’s hoping a little
hypocrisy will purchase some.
Weak
Message, Weak Polling
The poll
numbers aren’t adding up for the Obama campaign—an indication of their
weak message.
According
to
Gallup
last week, Obama’s approval rating is down in 47 states from
a year ago. (It’s worth noting that Wyoming is one of the three
states
where his approval went up – from 27.6 percent to 30.6
percent.) The
president’s approval rating is above 50 percent in only D.C. and 10
reliably blue states. Meanwhile, the majority of Americans
continue to
believe the country is on the wrong track.
Obama
has also alienated important coalitions that propelled him to victory
in 2008. Young voters, dispirited by a weak economy, are
unengaged. Hispanic voters, suffering from higher than average
unemployment, believe the president has failed; in Florida 60 percent
of Hispanics say Obama’s campaign promises remain unfulfilled,
according to a recent Resurgent Republic poll. And with his latest
affront to religious organizations, Obama’s Catholic support may wane
further.
This
is significant. Obama won many states by a slim margin. If he
loses the
support of even a sliver of the electorate, he loses these
states.
Low
Registration, Zero Momentum
The
Obama campaign has failed to generate momentum for their candidate—a
certain source of anxiety in Chicago.
As
a result, the GOP is closing the registration gap. In every
battleground state that maintains partisan registration records, the
Democrats have a lower share of registered voters than in
2008.
In
Nevada, for example, Republicans have cut the Democrats’ advantage from
2008 in half. In New Hampshire, Democrats held an advantage over
Republicans in 2008; today, Republicans have the advantage.
In 2008,
Democrats benefitted from a surge in registrations, but there is no
such surge in 2012.
In
short, Obama’s campaign struggles may not make the headlines, but they
are undoubtedly bad news for Democrats as we head toward
November. That’s something worth remembering – and reporting.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sean M. Spicer
Communications Director
Republican National Committee