'Shadow RNC:' Fundraisers eye $50 Mil

by Mark Silva

Perhaps the biggest indicator of the problem that RNC Chairman Michael Steele is facing is the reported movement of a former team of RNC leaders to raise and spend as much as $50 million on the party's House and Senate races this year.

"We intend to paint a very vivid picture of the fork in the road that this country faces -- not merely a choice between two candidates, but a serious philosophical decision about the future of this country," says Jim Dyke, a former Republican National Committee spokesman and now member of the board of "American Crossroads.''

The Washington Post's Chris Cilliza, reporting on the group's fundraising goal today, notes that Dyke is joined by former RNC chairman Mike Duncan and vice chair Jo Ann Davidson on the board of this new 527 committee. Steven Law, a former executive director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will serve as president.

Former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, who was communications director for the Bush White House at the end, and former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove are serving as informal advisers to the group as well.

"The broader goal of American Crossroads, according to Dyke, is to help Republicans win races this fall and "then expand that model to play a decisive role in winning the presidential election two years from now." This, Cillizza notes, is taking a page from the Democratic playbook in 2004, when The Media Fund, America Coming Together and America Votes were formed to raise money and turn out the vote.

If American Crossroads can reeach its fundraising goals this year, The Post's man notes, "it could be a major player in the 2012 presidential race.