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SOMETHING I READ ON A DOLLAR BILL.
Obama’s nearly-record-breaking June fundraising haul -- $52 million! -- ought to change the media narrative for the next few days. The campaign claims an average donation of $68. Assuming those numbers hold up when we get the full FEC reports, they support Obama's justification of his decision to back out of public financing -- that he won’t be beholden to wealthy interests if most of his money is coming in small chunks from regular folks.
We’ll see if that turns out to be true. But most impressive is the fact that this was done in June; fundraisers will tell you that the summer months are the most difficult time to raise money (primary’s over, the general hasn’t started to really heat up, people are going on vacation, etc.) although, given the amount of media coverage of this, er, amazing race has generated, perhaps that dynamic doesn’t apply.
John McCain and the RNC still have a good $28 million $1 million more cash-on-hand, but that’s in part because Obama has been up on TV more and has been opening field offices and hiring workers everywhere he can -- 20 offices in Virginia, 150 paid organizers in Missouri. Some political operatives I’ve spoken to who aren’t involved in the campaign were worried that this was a bit of an overreach (especially given his lower fundraising in the last few months) but early investment can’t be beat if you can keep up this kind of fundraising pace.
UPDATE: As StevenAttewell points out, the difference in funds between the two candidates and their respective parties is relatively small. Unfortunately, I wrote this post before the DNC announced its fundraising results.
—Tim Fernholz
COMMENTS (5)
My suspicions were right. The other day I was walking down the street and someone asked me if I had a minute, or some money, for Barack Obama. I said no. I like him, but I think he has enough. $52 million in one of the worst economic climates we've seen in years?!?!? That's pure insanity.
Question: Is there ever any leftover money after the general is over? What happens to it? Pizza party?
Posted by: Mr. Boot | July 17, 2008 9:24 AM
I'm happy to see Americans care about this years elections and how much support people are giving.
I'm sure Obama from primaries to general he must have reached $300 MIL by now.
But it raises a question. Why can't we raise enough for AIDS, Cancer, Children's Charties (from Sick Kids to SOS Children: Aids Africa), for disater relief, from setting up schools to medical aide and supporting women in progress? Why don't people care enough to support these serious issues?
Posted by: Anonymous | July 17, 2008 10:36 AM
If everyone gave the average, he had 764,706 donors in June. Obviously, everyone didn't give the average, but equally obviously, some gave less. Even in a nation our size, and even taking into account that a lot of the money probably came from people who maxed out, so, the actual number of donors is very likely to be significantly less, this seems like a huge number of people.
Posted by: washerdreyer | July 17, 2008 11:24 AM
Important note: the DNC also raised $20 million or so - the combined Dem total is $92 million, compared to the GOP's $93 million. Rather important detail.
And as for charitable causes, the scale isn't close to being enough for a few million to matter. To deal with AIDS alone, you need tens of billions, not millions.
Posted by: StevenAttewell | July 17, 2008 12:17 PM
I am sure this has been brought up before, but I think it bears repeating. Just an arithmetic average does not tell how much or little large donors dominate the funding stream. To take an extreme example, two $2000 contributions plus 66 $10 contributions yields approximately a $68 average, but %85 of the money comes from the two large donors.
Posted by: gelb_oak | July 18, 2008 12:23 AM