The Republican Party: not as important as it used to be.

www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/us/politics/outside-groups-eclipsing-gop-as-hub-of-campaigns-next-year.html?pagewanted=1&ref=politics#

Some of the most powerful organizations fighting Obama's reelection don't have any formal connection with the Republican Party.  It's all outside groups like Karl Rove-founded American Crossroads, the Republican Governors Association, the American Action Network and Americans for Prosperity, backed by millionaires that don't have to report their donors' names and who don't have contribution limits thanks to the "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision.
The Republican National Committee itself is swamped by debt, and it appears the vast majority of the money is flowing into these other conservative groups.  Democrats haven't had this problem: Obama has raised massive amounts of money for the Democratic National Committee, leaving no need for outside groups.
What these Republican groups have set out to do is win over all the heavily contested states that republicans will need to win back from Obama. These groups will be emptying their coffers on television ads and social networking, while the Republican Party focuses on less expensive, more traditional means of getting people out to vote.  And even though these groups can't collaborate with the party itself, they are extremely organize amongst themselves. They share polling, research, they even coordinate who will take on which state and which race. The Congressional Leadership Fund for example, focuses on maintaining the Republican held House of Representatives.
They seem very focused: get the Democrats out of power.  It clearly doesn't matter which Republicans end up in office, as long as they are Republican.The Party itself is a little worried about this: "Every time we empower independent third-party groups to do what the party is supposed to be doing, it diminishes the value of the brand and what the party represents,” said Gary Emineth, a former chairman of the North Dakota Republican Party. It's not really about issues. It's about party labels. And it's about money.