fundraising

Five days ago, Christie hit the kind of record that does not presidents make. Washington Post had it: New Jersey's credit rating has been downgraded more under Chris Christie than any other governor. And that was just the seventh time. Wall Street hit New Jersey again yesterday, as both Fitch and Standard & Poor's cited the same kind of issues for their lack of confidence in the state's direction under Christie. Not exactly the kind of record you want to build on.

The Democrats in both the House and Senate have finished the first quarter slightly ahead of their Republican counterparts in fundraising. This, in an election season that most pundits believe will result in a number of seats going to the right side of the aisle.

The stats from Wendy's report are impressive: 85 percent of her 84,704 individual donations were under $50, as over 71,843 people supported her campaign. She has donors from all 254 counties in Texas, and in-state money makes up 70 percent of her haul. Burnt Orange Report reacts to this news...in GIF form.

GOP candidate for Governor of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli is rallying with several Attorneys General today. Needless to say, they're all very, very far to the right. Let's just take one example — Florida AG Pam Bondi — as illustrative. Here are a few things you might want to know about Bondi.

State Republican Parties are seeing a period of ever-increasing dysfunction. Intra-party fighting between moderate and extreme factions are creating never-before-seen problems in both logistics and fundraising.

Sure, Mitt Romney's foreign tour is proof that he's a diplomacy doofus, but his campaign is still laughing ... all the way to the bank. When he wasn't insulting the Brits in London, Mitt was raising millions from the people who made millions manipulating interest rates. Yeah, those guys at Barclays have plenty of easy money and they're eager to share the spoils with a fellow vulture-capitalist.