Comment on Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision is ‘fundraising gold’ for Democrats

Nothing rallies US grassroots donors quite like a political affront, and Democrats facing a wave of Republican threats are cashing in on the negativity at the height of the 2014 election cycle. Democratic campaign organizers in Washington have seized on major political assaults by Republicans — including a demand for President Barack Obama’s impeachment by Tea Party heroine Sarah Palin — to sweep millions of dollars into their coffers and sign up thousands of new likely voters. Despite Obama’s approval rating being in the cellar, and the odds of Republicans taking back the Senate in an off-year election reaching 50-50, the Democratic Party has been the beneficiary of a flood of campaign funds not seen since Republicans were blamed for shutting down the government in October. “Republican overreach continues to be a huge motivating factor for our grassroots,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesman Josh Schwerin told AFP. The efforts kicked into high gear shortly after House Speaker John Boehner announced late last month that he was filing a lawsuit against Obama for abusing his executive authority. Days later, a controversial decision by the US Supreme Court allowed employers on religious grounds to opt out of the health care law’s mandate to provide contraception coverage. Since Boehner’s announcement, the DCCC alone has raised over $3 million online, from 157,000 donors, nearly a quarter of them first-time givers. Their best fundraising day of the year came June 30, the day of the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision, when over $800,000 poured in. Other Democratic groups cashed in too, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. “It’s disgusting: The Supreme Court just ruled that corporations can deny women insurance coverage for birth control,” the DSCC said in an email appeal strategically sent out about two hours after the decision. The verdict could be good news for Democrats as they court single female voters.