Wanted: Rich Republicans to run for office. Desperation?

Normally, a political party would look for certain characteristics when scouting out possible candidates for elected office: experience, intelligence, integrity, charisma, connections, etc.

But faced with a large fund-raising gap between itself and the Democrats, the Republican Party will settle for a candidate who has a ton of money and is willing to finance his or her own campaign.

According to the New York Times, "At this point, strategists for the National Republican Congressional Committee have enlisted wealthy candidates to run in at least a dozen competitive Congressional districts nationwide, particularly those where Democrats are finishing their first term and are thus considered most vulnerable. They say more are on the way."

The Times also notes that "The most recent figures show that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has raised $56.6 million and has $29.2 million at its disposal. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee has raised $40.7 million with a cash balance of $2.5 million."

Here's the problem for the GOP: Instead of focusing on finding good candidates, the party is finding itself actively recruiting candidates who are simply wealthy. Is that going to lead to electable leaders? And if they do get elected, is that going to lead to strong leaders?

It's hard to imagine this strategy working. It may help to close the funding gap but it will lead to races featuring the Democrats' best candidates against whatever guy the GOP could find who was willing to spend big. That could lead to some interesting and lopsided debates.