The start of a donor 'exodus'? [View all]

[ProSense]

The start of a donor 'exodus'?

By Steve Benen

With 35 days to go before Election Day, Mitt Romney's trailing, but President Obama's advantage is hardly insurmountable. If Romney can catch a few breaks and convince his backers to stick with him for another five weeks, anything's possible.

Fox Business, however, reports that major Romney donors are showing signs of giving up.

The Romney campaign is experiencing what some officials believe could be the beginning of a mass exodus of big money donors diverting their cash away from the Republican presidential hopeful and toward Republican candidates for the House and Senate races more likely to win in November, the FOX Business Network has learned.

It's worth emphasizing that the evidence, at least for now, is entirely anecdotal, and nothing has been quantified...If accurate, the so-called "exodus" would be easy to understand. There is a real threat that Republicans, if they invest heavily in the presidential race that's slipping away from them, could lose the opportunity to make GOP gains in the House and Senate.

It seems premature for the Republican donors to simply give up -- Romney's deficit in national polls this week is only a few points -- but the tipping point may be near.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/10/02/14184361-the-start-of-a-donor-exodus