In a recent meeting in Washington, Reid, along with Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the third-highest ranking Democrat, and Sen. Patty Murray (Wash.), who chairs of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, made their pitch to Messina, according to Democratic sources.

Messina would not agree to the request not to max out big donors, and no decision was made on the amount of financial backing that Senate Democrats will get from the DNC and the Obama-Biden campaign…

Adding more competition in the race for cash, Democratic operatives have formed a number of new third-party groups, known as “super PACs,” each of which have sometimes competing goals of electing more House Democrats, Senate Democrats or Obama himself. These operatives are often competing for the same list of wealthy donors.