Obama plans fundraiser for Dem campaigns

President Obama will headline a major fundraiser in Washington benefiting his party’s campaign committees on June 18, according to Democratic sources.

The event, planned for an as-yet undecided venue, will rake in millions for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at a time when both are struggling with massive piles of debt.

{mosads}It will be Obama’s second fundraiser since moving into the White House, following a March event at which he raised $3 million for the Democratic National Committee at the Warner Theatre.

All three committees, reporting fundraising numbers for March on Monday, outraised their Republican counterparts, but not without significant help from Obama.

The DNC pulled in more than $7.5 million in March, aided by the Warner Theatre fundraiser along with a $2 million contribution from Obama’s presidential campaign. The committee raised $5.5 million from individual donors and retained $9.7 million in the bank.

The Republican National Committee, in the meantime, raised $6.7 million— a significant increase over the $5.26 million the committee raised in February. Even after transfers of $1 million each to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the RNC still had a whopping $23.9 million in the bank.

On the congressional side, the DCCC led the way with an impressive $10.2 million for March and kept $3.34 million in the bank. The DSCC, meanwhile, topped $5 million raised and will show $7.2 million cash on hand.

The NRCC raised $5.27 in March and had $3.2 million left over, while the NRSC raised $4.94 million and kept $2.27 million in its coffers.

Though Republicans trail Democrats in fundraising at both congressional committees, the story remains Democrats’ massive debts. The DNC’s report will show about $6.6 million in debt, largely unchanged from February. The DCCC still has $8 million in debt, about half the $16.4 million it reported at the start of the year. And the DSCC still has to pay off just under $10.9 million incurred in the run-up to the 2008 elections.

The RNC has no debt, while the NRCC has $5 million unpaid on its books. The NRSC, which incurred less debt than any other campaign committee, has to pay off just $1 million.

Amid a rough economy, only the NRSC was able to beat similar benchmarks from previous years. The committee, headed by chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas), raised more in March 2009 than it did in March 2008, an election year; March 2007, the end of the first quarter of the 2008 election cycle; and March 2005, the end of the first quarter of a midterm election cycle.

Both the RNC and the NRCC fell short of all three benchmarks. The RNC raised less than half of what it did last March, when the race for the GOP presidential nomination had finished up, and fell $1 million and $4.4 million short of what it raised in 2007 and 2005, respectively. The NRCC missed its marks by between $1.3 million and $2.5 million.

Democrats fared little better. The DNC outraised its 2008 benchmark by less than $1 million, even though last year the committee was cash-poor as donors funneled millions to then-Sens. Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in the midst of the heated battle for the presidential nomination. The national committee fell short of its March efforts in 2007 and 2005.

The DCCC bested its hauls for 2008, though by only $100,000, and 2005, but could not raise more than the $12.3 million it pulled in after Democrats retook the House in 2007. The DSCC came close to matching its haul from March 2005, but fell significantly short of the more than $8 million raised in both March 2007 and March 2005.