Sept. 14, 2008
Obama Needs More Cash To Reach Goals
Politico: August's $66M Haul Is Only A Down Payment On Huge Sums Democratic Nominee Seeks To Raise
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Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., talks to supporters last week at Lebanon High School High School in Lebanon, Virginia. (AP)
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Interactive The Money Race See the latest campaign finance tallies from Obama and McCain.
Barack Obama's $66 million haul in August donations may set records but it's only a down payment on the huge sums the Democratic presidential nominee must continue to collect in order to compete through the Nov. 4 election.
Obama is attempting to become the first candidate to privately finance the general election phase of his campaign, and his August performance seems to be a good start.
His announcement that he had $77 million in cash in the bank at the end of August came strikingly close to the roughly $85 million in taxpayer funds that Republican John McCain has to spend on the entire general election.
But the August sum came after a full-court press by the campaign and in the midst of the Democratic National Convention, historically an easier time to generate donations because the party base is focused and united. The campaign announced that it had recruited 500,000 new donors in August, which brings the number of total contributors to 2.5 million.
Meanwhile, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's selection as McCain's running mate has lit up the Republican National Committee's online fundraising, creating a vibrant and fresh source of income to add to the party's already formidable big donor program.
RNC officials said Internet donations have quadrupled since Palin joined the ticket.
While Obama's campaign coffers are brimming, an effort to funnel money into battleground state party committees lags far behind campaign goals and Republican giving.
Finally, McCain-friendly outside groups already are mobilizing and launching independent attack ads on the Illinois senator. Meanwhile, Obama has sent word to the Democratic community that he wouldn't welcome similar independent groups working on his behalf - essentially sidelining what could have been critical allies.
Those complex dynamics are likely to put additional pressure on Obama and his financing team. The enormity of the task is already fraying nerves in Chicago and eating into the Illinois senator’s campaign time as the campaign combs the country for both small and big donations.
“It’s a logistically challenging fundraising environment they face, because time is not on their side and their goals are so ambitious,” said Anthony Corrado, an expert on money and politics.
“Do the math. They have to raise about $3 million a day” to reach an estimated target of about $200 million, he added.
That helps explain why a steady stream of electronic donation appeals was flying out of the Obama headquarters throughout the Democratic convention in Denver.
“I’d like to thank you for the warm welcome I’ve received as the newest member of this campaign,” opened one video message from Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), the vice presidential nominee. The e-mail closed with the obligatory red donate button.
“My mom, the girls and I left home in Chicago and got to Denver yesterday,” opened Michelle Obama’s appeal. “I am so lucky to be married to the woman who delivered that speech last night,” crowed Obama in his own appeal, signed simply Barack.
Similar appeals were dispatched during the Republicans’ convention the following week in St. Paul, Minn.
“I wasn’t planning on sending you something tonight. But if you saw what I saw from the Republican convention, you know that it demands a response,” campaign manager David Plouffe wrote after Palin mocked Obama’s work as a community organizer.
The appeal, and Palin’s attacks, helped Obama raise a record $10 million in single day.
Big donors are equally inundated but they are costlier targets since many of those donors reside outside of the critical swing states.
Tuesday, Obama is scheduled to be in Beverly Hills, a Zip code that is home to plenty of Democratic money but in a state whose electoral votes he already has in the bag. Money raised will go to the Democratic National Committee and his own cmpaign.
At 5 p.m., he’ll headline a $28,500-per-head affair followed by a 7 p.m. $2,500 reception that has Barbra Streisand as an added draw. He’ll also attend an Asian-Americans reception “and photo line,” which carries a $28,500 price tag.The Money Race
Check out July tallies for Obama and McCain - including how much they've raised and spent since the campaign began.
Biden is also carrying a crammed fundraising schedule and an impressive array of other surrogates are also lending their names to the cash cause.
Caroline Kennedy is crisscrossing the country this month headlining events from California to Connecticut. Former Vice President Al Gore and actress Gwyneth Paltrow will be hitting up Americans abroad at two London affairs.
Although some of Hillary Clinton’s big fundraisers haven’t joined Obama’s campaign - and some haven’t been heavily courted to join - the senator herself is the main draw for a New York event. And the recently reached détente between the Obama camp and former President Bill Clinton’s circle undoubtedly adds another major player to the effort.
But even with all that star power, Obama has taken on a extraordinary burden that is complicated by his unprecedented ground game strategy for the fall and the late close to the primary season.
In July, Obama spent $57 million - more than any prior month and more than the $51 million he collected that month. A large chunk of that cash went to the salaries of his expanding field operation.
His expenses for August were a bit higher because of the extensive advertising he aired that month - including a run of commercials during NBC’s broadcast of the Beijing Olympics.
The lengthy primary robbed Obama of a chance to save some money by engaging in coordinated campaign activities, such as sharing office costs and doing joint mailings with other Democratic candidates running for federal and state offices. In New Hampshire, for instance, the Obama campaign had to lease its own headquarters in Manchester because the already-established coordinated campaign headquarters didn’t have enough room for the newcomers.
In contrast, McCain has had months to lay the groundwork for a fully coordinated effort between his Virginia operations and the RNC.
Unlike Obama, McCain decided to accept public financing for the general election leg of the 2008 race. That means he and Palin can’t raise any private funds for their campaign.
The running mates can still raise money for the RNC, which can pay for their team’s ground game operations and run advertising on behalf of the ticket.
The RNC, a fundraising powerhouse in its own right, was already becoming competitive with Obama’s operation. The RNC’s cash on hand at the end of August was $75 million.
Palin has injected a new energy in givers, particularly small donors. The day that her selection was announced, the RNC received $1 million in Internet donations - a record for the organization.
“The surge you are seeing in our crowds and in volunteering is matched in our fundraising,” said Alex Conant, an RNC spokesman.
And Palin is expected to be dispatched soon to the fundraising circuit, where her star status could loosen the wallets of both big and small donors, much like Obama has done.
Meanwhile, McCain will have the luxury of spending most of his time with voters.
By Jeanne Cummings
Copyright 2008 POLITICO
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See all 290 CommentsHmmm! what the heck is he doing with all the money? Buying Votes?
Posted by OneAmerican6 at 10:54 AM : Sep 16, 2008
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last week he was too weak to be President, this weak he is compared to a mobster. Maybe you tools ought to study up on your talking points, before people start believing your all as lacking in intelligence as Sarah palin is.
posted by AGT-R at 01:00 P
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Mccain has spent the same amount on the media. Do you think it is shameful for him as well??
Do you think McCain should give back any of the 84 million dollars that he and Palin just took from the taxpayers this month to run their campaign? All the while he has Palin set up to raise more money from all over the country?
So don''t give me bunk about Obama buying an election!
The McCain ad depicting Obama as the big black predator trying to awaken your children with seks-ed before kindergarten so he can come get them at night when in fact Barack was trying to write further PROTECTION guarantees for children from predators into Illinois law is perilous for McA-hole. Karl Rove even said as much on FAUX Newz Sunday morning.
Anyone else?
Oh, and one other thing that is pertinent as your retirement nestegg rides off into the sunset without you.......I am sure most already know but, if not......the man responsible for legislation de-regulating financial firms was none other than former Senator Phil Gramm R-Tx who has been McCains campaign co-chair and economic adviser. Its relative right now as DOW is in freefall and crooks scoop your money off the table. SEVEN-out, line away, pay the shorts!
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Posted by pmsnbc1 at 09:55 AM : Sep 16, 2008
and their rallying cry is McCain/Palin 08!
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Posted by baileycc at 09:02 AM : Sep 16, 2008
"There''s a sucker born every minute" P.T. Barnum
Obama says he can balance the budget and fix the economy, but at the same time he does not have enough money for his campaign? If he is setting all the fundraising records why can''t he balance his own budget, he has raised over 400 million? I guess we should just "Trust" him.
he has the solution and McCain Obama doesn''t.
It amazes me how anyone could support these two clowns when the answer to the problem is Dr Paul''s
message. Yes i know he''s not running that''s why you should listen to the message he has.
The two party system is a fraud one says one thing and the other says the same but there no different.
Both parties are corrupt and vicious to the constitution.
I want the media to get to the issues that are tearing the country apart - and I want the candidates to give some open press interviews in order to answer some serious questions. Stop wasting our time with petty, irrelevant issues.
We deserve some decent information before we select our next president.
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