How Bad Is Republican Fundraising? Bad.

I should be getting e-mail and telephone calls from Republicans but I'm just not. So far, I've gotten one direct mail letter from a Republican candidate for president, no telephone calls, and only generic e-mails sent to everyone on several large lists. Although I'm hardly a high-dollar donor by any stretch of the imagination, I've given FEC-reportable gifts (over $250) to Republicans running for federal office in 4 of the past 5 federal election cycles, similarly sized gifts in state elections, am probably on every conservative/Republican mailing list in my home state, and have donated decent amounts to Republican friends in other states.

On the other hand, the sitting President's enormously sophisticated fundraising operation (I'm on its e-mail list and my wife gave $10 last campaign cycle) has already hit us with a very simple direct mail letter asking for another small contribution and plenty of targeted e-mail about events in our home state. The Obama campaign hasn't wasted money on my household and, when my wife gets around to writing a check, will probably make a "profit " on us.

This leaves me with two guesses, neither of which looks good for the GOP.

First, not one of the Republican candidates has the technological acumen to mine public databases for the names of people that gave in the past and are likely to give in the future.

Second, Republican candidates have good capabilities to look for names but, for whatever reason, have decided that I'm not worth the bother because I live in a "swing" district that, while naturally inclined to vote Republican, gets turned of by the hard core Tea Party message being peddled by most primary candidates.

Either way, it speaks poorly of the party.