The Nation - News from Feb. 18, 1986

Democratic Party fund-raising took a nose dive in 1985, reversing gains made in recent years against a powerful Republican money machine. Battered by a landslide defeat in the presidential election, the Democratic National Committee raised only $7 million in 1985, less than a third of its 1984 total. Committee Chairman Paul G. Kirk Jr. contended that 1985 was a rebuilding year, and said prospective givers have been convinced that the Democrats are “serious about our political business, and they are prepared to invest in it.”