Barack Obama may be doubling up John McCain in campaign fundraising, but the RNC continues its dominance of the DNC this election cycle.  The RNC outraised its rival more than 2-1 in contributions and by $6 million in total receipts in July, and now has a $68 million advantage in cash-on-hand.  The numbers bode ill for any assistance Obama expects from his party in the final stanza of the campaign:

RNC:

COH: $75,118,815.75

Contributions 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $16,422,506.22

Total Contributions Cycle: $175,922,265.02

Receipts 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $25,837,887.21

Total Receipts Cycle: $219,295,054.52

Spent 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $19,449,026.91

Total Spent Cycle: $147,284,457.16

Debt: $0.00

DNC:

COH: $7,728,026.07

Contributions 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $7,348,231.21

Total Contributions Cycle: $91,727,482.74

Receipts 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $19,917,201.72

Total Receipts Cycle: $109,881,570.58

Spent 7/1/08 to 7/31/08: $16,715,863.96

Total Spent Cycle: $105,863,844.19

Debt: $0.00

The DNC has had to rescue the convention host committee, which probably accounts for its high burn rate.  Right now, the DNC has spent 96% of everything they’ve received in this cycle, while the Republicans have spent 67%.  In July, this trend continued even with the RNC boosting McCain against Obama’s big fundraising summer, although the gap narrowed, with an 84% burn rate for the DNC versus a 75% burn rate for the RNC.

The small amount in contributions probably reflects the Obama reversal on public financing.  With Obama raising his own general-election funds, donors haven’t flocked to the DNC, which has to also help in down-ticket races as well as national messaging apart from the Obama campaign.  At this rate, an anemic $7 million cash on hand points to a greatly reduced impact from the national party, which could help even the odds on some tight Congressional races.

The RNC now has an even greater advantage in that the McCain campaign won’t be competing for donors any more, and that general-election donations will accrue directly to their coffers.  McCain will have $42 million in each of the two months before the election in government funding.  The combined weight of the RNC/McCain coffers will seriously compete with anything Obama can raise, while freeing the candidate to campaign.

Part of the problem Obama has is that his exceptional fundraising this summer hasn’t translated into more support.  In fact, in every poll, Obama has lost significant ground this summer and needs to find a way to turn the race around.  At the moment, it appears that Obama and the DNC won’t have the resources for that kind of effective campaign.