My favorite pollster, Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com, on Countdown with Keith (Video)

Home Page

Slo Mo....

Obama Raises 22M in May

Barack Obama ended with 43M COH (cash on hand), with 10M earmarked for the general election. Meanwhile, John McCain raised 21M in May.

Remember, John McCain accepted federal funding for the general election, so he is capped at what he can SPEND, until he receives the 84M to run his general election campaign. In other words, McCain Campaign will be quite dark this summer, while Obama Campaign live and active.

How is this? Well, since accepting federal funding you are prohibited from lavish spending. Much will be looked at and deducted, as so. Which is why John McCain is relying heavily on the 527s to do his heavy lifting against Barack Obama. Obama put up his new general election ad in 18 states, see here, expect the McCain Campaign to worry about this. He does not have the money to do this, thus expect the negative ads to SOONER than LATER.

Overall, since the presidential campaigns began last year, Obama has raised $287 million, former first lady Hillary Clinton has raised $209 million and McCain has raised $115 million.

But $10 million of Obama's available cash can only be spent in the fall after the party national conventions, leaving $33 million for the summer months. Obama's decision to bypass the general election's public finance system allows him to use left over primary money in the fall campaign.

Record-breaking numbers
His campaign has racked up record-breaking fundraising numbers in a presidential run that will be the most expensive in U.S. history.

It raised about $36 million in January, $55 million in February and more than $42 million in March.

Obama reported spending $26.6 million in May. His heaviest spending was on advertising — more than $4 million buying time for television commercials. Obama had the most expensive payroll, spending $3.5 million on his staff, more than twice what Clinton spent and more than six times what McCain spent on his payroll.

Obama is the first U.S. presidential candidate to bypass the public financing system since it was created after the Watergate scandal in the mid-1970s.

Notice McCain running the Clinton Campaign blueprint? They are taking notes, criticism, word-from-word of the Hillary Clinton Campaign to use against Barack Obama. I wrote about this earlier, so expect more of this forthcoming, even in 527 ads.

My take, Obama had a weak May in raising funds, period. He was still in the midst of a never ending democratic primary that should have ended in FEBRUARY, but lagged on. People are/was exhausted of the primary and chose to wait until after the dust settle to start donating to Obama. Now that this has settled, Clinton has pushed her fundraisers to Obama. Both, Clinton and Obama will campaign and fundraise together next week.

I expect from June to November for Obama to raise enough and more money to compete against McCain. Remember, his hands are not tied to the 527s, lobbyists, PACs as John McCain's and he can spend as much money needed without the feds looking over his shoulder and looking at his books. That is what happens when you accept public financing.

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with public financing, IF the 527s were not in the mix. We learned a hard lesson with John Kerry and the swiftboating of 2004. We know that the negative ads are coming, we know we will not like it, and we know we must fund our nominee, OURSELVES, Barack Obama.

Please give to the left. Thanks.

::


Newsweek Poll

::

Obama Add Women in Key Roles Going Forward

After taking primary season criticism over the number of women in its upper ranks, the campaign of Barack Obama has significantly ramped up its hiring of women in senior staff positions.

The move appeared aimed, in part, at reversing what one top aide said was a "bit of a bad rap" for running a male-dominated campaign organization.

Prominent women activists said that, through the primary season, they had taken note of a gender imbalance in the campaign’s top echelon, particularly when compared to that of Hillary Rodham Clinton's operation, but were pleased to see the presumptive Democratic nominee hiring more women.

::

Ahhhhh, Maureen does it again, Italian Vogue......

....and that Michelle dress is still the rave....located here....



::

Barack's stand on FISA is not being coveted by the Dems on the left....

...and have a great Saturday....

Morning Break...and that Michelle dress...

::

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to campaign together on Friday, June 27, 2008.

Senator Barack Obama will be joined by his one-time rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, on the campaign trail on Friday June 27, his campaign announced.

A spokesman for Mr. Obama said more details would be announced soon.

The two Democrats had already agreed to appear together at a fund-raiser on June 26 at Washington’s Mayflower Hotel.

After a bruising primary fight, Mrs. Clinton suspended her campaign and endorsed Mr. Obama earlier this month, asking her supporters to join her “in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me.”

And Hillary tell her top fundraisers to get behind Barack Obama.

On a private conference call moments ago, Hillary urged her top fundraisers in no uncertain terms to throw their weight behind Barack Obama, and directly asked them in surprisingly candid terms to give or raise money to help her pay off her campaign's debt.

At the same time, in a move that took some participants on the call by surprise, she also clarified that she was not asking their help in paying off her personal loans to the campaign.

::

Did GOP Senator Fake An Ad Showing Him Cozy With Wife?


you decide, this is the ad for senator norm coleman (r-mn) and his absent wife, laurie

::



Barack Obama poised to rake in about 500M for White House bid

Sen. Barack Obama's decision to forgo public financing for his presidential campaign clears the way for him to outspend Sen. John McCain by 3-to-1 or substantially more in the general election, a financial edge that dramatically rewrites the playbooks for both candidates.

With the possibility of spending perhaps $500 million just in the final two months of the campaign, Obama will be the first major-party candidate to enjoy a spending edge in the general election in more than 30 years. The comparison with the consistently cash-strapped McCain campaign could hardly be more stark.

John McCain has decided, or was forced, to accept public funding which is about 80M. Let us be clear, Barack Obama did say he would accept public funding if the Republican opponent did. Now, this was prior to Obama becoming a juggernaut on the internet. Will he have a hard time on this decision and label a flip-flopper? Yes. But this will be a short-term affect in my view and the truth is that the public is just not engaged about campaign financing, which we should be.

By Obama opting out of this opens up doors for the future of campaign financing.

But Mr. Obama’s decision to opt out of public financing — along with the ability of the Internet to let candidates raise large sums of money from small donors — may do more to shatter the system than all of the loopholes it has spawned.

As structured, each presidential candidate stands to receive $84 million in public money. This money is gained from the $3 check-off on federal taxpayer returns, which the major party candidates can use to run a general presidential campaign from the end of each party’s convention to the November election.

Each political party can also raise and spend money to support its candidate. Donors can give up to $28,500 to party committees, as well as often-unlimited amounts to 527s, nonprofits and a bevy of other committees that exist outside the formal party structure, to influence the election.

Yet even candidates with as many wealthy connections as George W. Bush or who are as adept at fund-raising as Bill Clinton took public money for their general presidential campaigns. Senator John McCain, the presumed Republican nominee, has said he would remain committed to the public finance system, but he may well be the last major candidate to do so.

My take, Obama did the right thing. Many of us, many first time donors became engaged in the Obama for America Campaign. Many of us volunteered, donated money reguarly, became advocates for the Obama for America Campaign.

It is only fair that Barack Obama opt out of public fianancing and let us, his small donor base fund and fuel this campaign. Let me be clear again, he has already raised over 272M just for the primaries and he depended on us. We know the mountain before us and we fully understand that from the degrading Fox News to the forthcoming 527 groups that negative ads are coming. These ads will not only attack Obama but the Obama Family. Accepting public financing, at this point, is only cutting the hand that feed you.

Barack Obama will shatter records in raising money to march to the White House and we are the ones who will put him there.

In the end, the documentation for this campaign from primary to the end of the general election will be the campaign model for many to use for the future.



::

Yesterday, I wrote about the embarrassment of the Obama Campaign to ask two young Muslim women in their garb to not stand behind the stage that Obama would grace with former Vice President Al Gore. Basically, we don't want you in the television shot. That is what that was about.

Things happen on campaigns that the candidate are not aware about, this was one of them. Who ever the staff was that made that decision, I am sure have been reprimanded. The good thing is that Obama apologized directly to the young ladies and they accepted his apology.

At the rally for Senator Obama in Detroit on Monday, June 16, two volunteers denied us seating behind the stage the Senator would soon take. The volunteers informed us that we were not allowed to sit in that area due to the hijab, the headscarf that each of us was wearing.

This incident was unfortunate and extremely disappointing. Senator Obama has called us each to personally convey his deepest apologies and acknowledge that this was inexcusable. We both immensely appreciate the Senator's phone call and his commitment to remedy this issue. We commend him for displaying qualities befitting an effective President. We acknowledge that this injustice has been taken seriously and that Senator Obama does not tolerate discrimination against Arabs, Muslims or any community. We are assured that he and his staff are committed to upholding the principles of justice for all peoples and bringing about change we can believe in. The infringement on our rights occurred and has been addressed; now we are ready to move forward. We will continue to support Senator Obama in his campaign and wish him the best as the race continues.

and Obama's statement:

I reached out to Ms. Aref and Ms. Abdelfadeel this afternoon. I spoke with Ms. Abdelfadeel, and expressed my deepest apologies for the incident that occurred with volunteers at the event in Detroit. The actions of these volunteers were unacceptable and in no way reflect any policy of my campaign. I take deepest offense to and will continue to fight against discrimination against people of any religious group or background. Our campaign is about bringing people together, and I'm grateful that Ms. Abdelfadeel accepted our apology and I hope Ms. Aref and any who were offended accept my apology as well.

Barack Obama will be the President of the United States for all of us, not some of us.

::

Georgia, it is all tied up there. No wonder the Obama Campaign has put this state on the map for a battleground state. Poll is here.

Indiana is in play.

::

Now McCain is being questioned about loving his country. Yes, it came out of his mouth. Can we get off of Michelle now?



::

They LOVE Michelle Obama's dress!!!!



You can get this dress at White House|Black Market for $148.00, a deal.

::

Bloomberg defends Obama before Jewish group

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is urging Jewish voters to denounce the online whisper campaign that for months has pushed the false rumor that Democrat Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim.

Bloomberg is speaking to members of a Jewish group in Boca Raton, Fla. He's warning them that the attempt to portray Obama as a shadowy Muslim with a hidden agenda often targets Jewish voters online and with e-mails.

The mayor says the deceptive campaign against Obama, who is a Christian, threatens to undo the strides that Jews and Muslims have made together.

::

Rise and Fall of Karl Rove


listen to this, especially about the author's take on john kerry

::

And the Telecom Companies are spared that they spied on Americans. What is up with these damn democrats in charge? sigh, read it all here.

Oh, John McCain was asked NOT TO COME TO IOWA by the Governor.

::

Missed yesterday's break? Read here.

And how is your day going?