On his radio show yesterday Rush Limbaugh made an interesting point. He said that while fundraising is important, it’s ideas that will drive the 2010 elections. To illustrate his point, he discussed the election of Indianapolis Mayor, Greg Ballard.
Many Republicans were intimidated by the idea of running against Democratic incumbent, Bart Peterson. When the race began Ballard had $300k in his war chest. Peterson had $2.9 million. Overall Peterson raised 30 times as much as Ballard.
But Peterson’s heavily funded campaign was, ultimately, no match for Ballard’s aggressive grassroots movement which capitalized on growing dissatisfaction with rapidly increasing taxes and crime.
It will be interesting to see if the same sort of scenario plays out in congressional districts all across the country in 2010. If the economy hasn’t rebounded in a big way; if health reform passes and we’re stuck with an increased tax burden; if the situation in Afghanistan shows no signs of improvement, heavily funded incumbents like Bart Peterson may be shown the door.