Both presumptive party Presidential nominees are now poised to begin fatly-funded campaigns. Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has raised $52 million in June and if you’ve been weeping over an underfunded Republican Sen. John McCain, don’t: the Arizona Senator used a funding mechanism to raise $62.5 million.
More than ever, 2008 could be the battle of the partisan bank accounts — coming soon in the form of hit piece TV commercials to you.
In the case of Obama, June was a good one for him, the New York Times’ The Caucus reports:
Senator Barack Obama raised $52 million in June, his campaign announced on Thursday morning, more than twice the amount he raised one month earlier before claiming the Democratic presidential nomination.
“We have some big news we want to share with you,” campaign manager David Plouffe said in a message to supporters. “Because of your generosity and commitment, we’re reporting to the press today that this campaign is in a very strong financial position.”
The average contribution to the campaign, he said, was $68.
After breaking fund-raising records throughout the winter and spring, some supporters feared that Mr. Obama’s contributions had slowed considerably. In May, he raised $21.9 million, one of his weakest months.
When asked about the health of his fund-raising a few days ago, Mr. Obama played down any concern, telling reporters: “I think you guys should wait until we release our numbers to make a decision as to how underwhelming they are.”
The Times then says this about McCain:
Last week, Senator John McCain announced that he had raised $22 million in June, which was the best fund-raising month of his campaign. So while Mr. Obama’s $52 million haul is significantly higher, he also faces a bigger fund-raising burden because of his decision to not accept public financing.
But, as the Wall Street Journal reports, you can hold the boo-hoos about the state of funding for McCain’s campaign since where there is a will — and a loophole — there is a way:
Sen. John McCain raised $62.3 million for his presidential bid in the second quarter in conjunction with the Republican National Committee, according to campaign-finance reports filed Tuesday night.
The campaign gathered most of the money using an unprecedented system that allows it to collect checks as large as $70,000 from an individual by parsing the money between the campaign, the national party and state committees in four states. That fund raised $41.2 million in the three-month period.
Campaigns are limited to a $2,300 contribution per individual, but political parties have much higher limits set by campaign-finance law. The $62.3 million figure doesn’t include other monies raised directly by the McCain campaign.
Sen. McCain formed his “joint fund-raising committee” with the Republican state parties in four swing states: Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico and Wisconsin. When it announced the account, the campaign said it sought out smaller states whose party committees might have trouble raising money independently but were still vital to the Republican’s fall campaign.
And McCain is proving to be different from President George Bush in more ways than one, the Journal reports:
While President George W. Bush used his fund-raising prowess to raise money for House and Senate candidates in 2004, Sen. McCain seems to be keeping the bulk of the money for himself. About $1 million of the proceeds from the account went to each of the state parties during the quarter, $11 million went to the McCain campaign, and $17 million to the Republican National Committee, which typically focuses exclusively on the presidential race.
Taken together this means that all of the speculation that the financial advantage of one side would be overwhelming will likely be proven to be that — just before-the-event speculation that will prove to have been just more cloudy crystal ball gazing in retrospect.
Look for both campaigns to have enough big bucks — particularly because polls show the race increasingly tightening as Obama shifts to the center, loses some progressive support and continues to have big problems winning over some supporters of his former Presidential nomination rival Hillary Clinton.
The GOP (sees that even as bad economc news increasingly tarnishes the Republican “brand” and as Bush’s poll approval ratings sink to Jimmy Carter level, the White House is not out of its grasp and that to all Democrats — particularly those seeking political payback — retaking the White House may not be the top priority this year. Given that fact, and the clout the party has that captures the White House, why shouldn’t GOP money continue to flow?
UPDATE: NBC’s David Gregory reaches some of the same conclusion as TMV but with an intriguing twist:
It appears many Republican donors are buying into the argument that the ONLY shot Republicans have of winning anything is the presidency. And this is hurting Republicans running for the House and Senate where Democrats are dominating on the financial front. Yesterday, the DSCC released a list of 11 races being held in GOP-held seats, and the Democrats were nearly on par or ahead in every race, according to the most recent fundraising report.
Question: Are we seeing the reverse ’96 effect taking place inside the GOP? In 1996, the word went out that Dole was a lost cause, and all of the GOP’s resources went to saving House and Senate candidates in order to preserve their control of Congress. This cycle, the chance of the GOP winning control of either the House or the Senate appears beyond remote. Does that mean many of the professional GOP-givers are gravitating toward sending money to causes that help McCain? It sure looks like it.
More comments on funding stories HERE.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.