Back when I was running campaigns I had a number of excellent candidates. Reality is you can only raise so much money in your district, it takes alot more help from outside to get the numbers to at least match your opponents ability to message and get name recognition, especially if it's an incumbent.
We never got that support, or got it too late. The Dems swamped us with media. Even though we didn't lose by much, it was a Republican enough district we should have won.
It was the money that made the difference.
I thought I would mention that in Johnson County, Kansas there was great deal of money brought in from the outside by democrats into certain key races.
The GOP prevailed, but it was closer than it should have been.
Still, the dems were outspending in some cases 10 to 1. But still lost.
I am really not sure what we are arguing here.
I say.....
Money is important, but it is no guarantee.
Money has it's limits.
Money can't compensate for a candidate who isn't good or who does not have a good message.
That, to me, seems obvious.