The Rightroots campaign succeeded in its project to collect 100 contributions for each of its candidates. John Hawkins announced last night that we rode the momentum that had gathered over the weekend into a big burst at the finish line:

Moreover, in the process we raised a nice chunk of change. The official count that ABC PAC gave us for the moment we started the challenged was $50,250.12. As of this moment, we have raised $112,618.46. So, we raised more than $62,000 during the challenge and, because of our success, the RNC has agreed to send out a promotional email on our behalf to their mailing list, which consists of millions of Republican voters. Furthermore, our totals don't include the $14,000 that Jack Kingston's PAC has given to our candidates for meeting a previous challenge.

Consider that 10 weeks ago, Rightroots wasn't even an idea in my head yet. 9 weeks ago, we had our first meeting via email. 7 weeks ago, we went public.

In that short period of time, we've raised 6 figures for our candidates, been endorsed by the Senate Majority leader and the RNC, and we've shattered the conventional wisdom, which has always been that right-of-center bloggers can't raise money. That's not bad for a grassroots effort put together on the fly by a bunch of bloggers -- and, it's worth noting that we're not done yet ...

It's amazing what a handful of people can do when they refuse to listen to others telling them they can't. Your contributions have helped get significant resources to campaigns that all sides agree will be critical for control of the Senate and Congress.

Republican fortunes appear on the upswing in a number of different ways. Our fundraising has met with great success, but perhaps that's not occurring in a vacuum. A recent Gallup poll shows that the generic Congressional ballot is now tied, 48%-48%, which represents a huge comeback for the GOP. Republicans trailed in that poll earlier this year by almost twenty points. Perhaps even more significantly, Gallup reports that a "sizable minority" of Democrats are more motivated by anti-GOP emotion than in support of their own candidate.

Congressional Quarterly now predicts that the GOP will keep control of the House. In their analysis of safe and leaning seats, CQPolitics now predicts that the GOP will hold at least 220 of the 435 districts, while 12 are too close to call. One of those seats belongs to Mark Kennedy, the Rightroots-supported candidate for Senate in Minnesota, and another Rightroots candidate is trying to hold the seat for the GOP -- Michele Bachmann.

We've got a long way to go before the midterms are here. Keep up your support of these fine candidates, and thank you for your support of the Rightroots initiative!

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