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....
Share
