CLINTON DONORS STILL SALTY.

The New York Times is reporting that the Obama campaign, while raising a great deal of money, has fallen short of its goals, largely because many of Clinton's financial backers are holding out.

When Mr. Obama decided in June to bypass the $84 million in public financing for the general election, campaign officials calculated that to make it worth the additional time he would need to devote off the campaign trail to fund-raising, they needed to raise two to three times the $84 million.

They set out a goal of raising $300 million for the campaign and $180 million for the Democratic Party, several fund-raisers said, or about $100 million a month.

The targets hewed closely with what Obama advisers also cited in interviews as their anticipated budget for the general election, but a spokesman for the campaign insisted on Tuesday that its fund-raising was on target and denied that $100 million a month was ever a real goal, or that the campaign was having problems recruiting Clinton donors.

I'm doubtful about Clinton's speech doing much to assuage dead-end supporters, who sound like they're waiting for her to run again in four years. Equal pay, reproductive choice -- these are apparently minor issues to those who are still holding out. Dana's reporting indicates these people are less prevalent than MSM coverage might imply, but this analysis of recent polling suggests that Obama's flagging numbers are due to the most conservative Democrats in the party defecting. The weak tea at this years' convention is unlikely to get anyone riled up, least likely those who are thinking very seriously about voting for John McCain.

Luckily for Hillary, Gallup's analysis also indicates a substantial number of Democrats want her to run again.

So...Mission Accomplished.

--A. Serwer