You will not see that headline.
Instead you will see headlines about Obama’s blowout fundraising of $86 million combined for his campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Of that amount, $47 million was for Obama’s campaign.
But as The NY Times notes deep down in its article on the fundraising, that $47 million number is less than the $50 million George W. Bush raised during the same quarter of 2003. (More Bush numbers are here.) [Update: The NY Times originally reported the $50 million Bush number as being for the same period, and I used that number for this post, but The Times story now has been changed to $35 million; The Times was citing the 3d Quarter numbers, not 2d Quarter in its original post. So on a second quarter comparison Obama did beat Bush.]
Of course, Obama also is touting the “small donor” angle, asserting that 98% of the donors donated under $250. But so far I have not seen any information on what percentage of the total amount raised (as opposed to the total number of donors) was from “small donors.” As we saw in 2008, this sleight of hand has been used by the Obama campaign before to present the false image that its fundraising was driven by small donors.
Additionally, the “average” donation size was driven down by the $5 dinner raffle, which then was reduced to $3. Getting a lot of donors to kick in $5 or $3 for a chance to have dinner with the President is a good way to drive down the average donation number and ramp up the number os “small donors.” I doubt any mainstream media outlets will report this angle.
In other words, the Obama fundraising numbers — while solid by any measure — neither were a blowout signaling his strength nor a reflection of the “grassroots” nature of his campaign. It’s just more phony imaging, aided and abetted by an incurious media.
Update: Gabriel Malor notes:
Last quarter Obama’s campaign raised $47 million. Combined, the GOP campaigns raised about $35 million. Now that doesn’t sound so bad, does it? In fact, the $12 million difference is shockingly low, given thatt the Democrats already know who their candidate is and many GOP donors are waiting until the GOP field narrows to get in it.
Count me as among those waiting.
Also, when the hard numbers are released days from now, when the media has moved on, it will be interesting to see not only the percentage of funds raised from the large donors who have been a focus of the Obama campaign for several months, but how many of those donors have maxed out. Pushing big donors to max out early has been an Obama campaign strategy to create the impression of fundraising strength.
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A more apt description would be malicious and flagrant lies.
Lunch
Iowa Republican
“Todd and Sarah Palin have made their way to Iowa. They were spotted by a loyal TIR reader moments ago at the Panera Bread Store on 86th Street in Urbandale. The Palin’s were swarmed by lunch patrons.
Todd and Sarah Palin had lunch with long-time Iowa fundraiser Becky Beach and her dog Jake. Also joining the Palin’s was Moe Sinclair. Sinclair owns the Panera stores in Iowa and other surrounding states.”
“Becky Beach is a behind-the-scenes operative with longstanding ties to the Bush family. She also is the granddaughter of former Republican National Committee Chairwoman Mary Louise Smith, and was a key aide to Ankeny lawyer Jeff Lamberti’s 2006 congressional campaign. She is often tapped for key projects for the Iowa Republican Party.
Moe Sinclair the successful owner of Panera Bread of Iowa, was recently named Panera Bread LLC’s top franchisee.”
I suspect that $12 million gap will be completely negated once Bachmann releases her figure on Friday.
Obama’s fund raising tactics are Chicago crime bosses at their best (or worst, depending how you view it). Who can forget Doodad Pro, or the donations made by the Dallas Cowboys that the Obama campaign failed to cull last time. And we all remember the Palestinian phone banks.
There is a reason Obama didn’t take public funding last time, nor will he this time; his campaign funds will be examined by the FEC, which is still examing McCain’s donor base. And donors who contributed less than $250.00 do not have to be listed.
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) just remarked on TV how Obama has gained (hold your breath) 500,000 new donors in the last quarter.
What is also troubling is Obama’s practice of using taxpayer funds for campaign stops. i.e. Obama had a fund raiser planned in Austin, Texas. Instead of his campaign picking up the travel tab, Obama billed it to the taxpayer by making an unplanned (until two days before) stop in El Paso to give a speech near the border. So while the Austin fundraiser garnered him well over $1 million, taxpayers picked up all the expenses related to the trip. He has also violated campaign ethics by holding a fund raiser in the White House, and now has prompted Darrel Issa to look into these practices of the Obama campaign.
Ooops, meant to say that Obama’s campaign coffers will NOT be examined by the FEC since he will not be taking public money.
[…] Yes, it’s true that the Republicans combined raised less. It’s also true that none of them are the sitting president. In fact, none of them is even the nominee, and we’re still months ahead of the usual campaign timeline. And, it’s possible that Rick Perry or Sarah Palin can get in and scramble everything — that possibility is undoubtedly keeping some money on the sidelines for now. […]
Question 1.
Have you covered the consequences likely re the Super PACs?
I haven’t seen much about it, but would imagine this gives The Soros a way to inject huge amounts of moola.
Question 2. (almost rhetorical)
Do you think the obvious scam in ‘the little people donations’ for Obama ’08 would’ve been attacked, investigated, etc. had this been done by a Republican?
Since the 3rd quarter hasn’t happened yet, isn’t your headline now completely incorrect? Thinking of changing it? Obama trounces Bush!
Yes, it is incorrect; it should show that the NYTimes made an egregious error, and that references which cited the original article are not incorrect of their own accord. And Mr Obama has trounced Mr Bush in the same sense that Barry Bonds has out-hit Babe Ruth.
Cheers
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