It's rather shocking how much total fundraising has gone up. It's two and a half times higher now than at this point four years ago. But look at the Democratic/Republican trend. Comparing 1999, the last cycle with an open seat, to 2007, Republicans have almost doubled their fundraising, but Democrats have increased theirs by a factor of five!
Like it or not, and I don't, money buys elections. Democrats are now more than competitive in the presidential money race, and that does bode well for 2008.
There are lots more goodies in the Campaign Finance Institute report that I'll be writing about over the next few days, including small verses large donor info for all the current presidential candidates. Which major Democratic candidate raises a larger percentage of money from large donors than most Republicans? Stay tuned!
9 comments:
Gee. Might it be that the party out of power has more success raising money in an off year?
Yes, the amount of money is pretty sickening. I think the out of power hypothesis has some legitimacy.
I think where it comes from is much more central than how much. I was reading a piece that Obama while winning in smaller donation over 50% came from individuals in the banking / financial industry.
I hope is addition to small / large donations, which I don't see too much relevance in anymore, you also looks at where the money comes from.
#1, usually the party in power has a much easier time raising money. They have the ability to deliver politically while the guys out of power can only sit around and watch. Not that I'm cynical about money in politics or anything...
#2, I agree with you only partly. It looks like large donors tend to have very different priorities than small donors, something the Campaign Finance Institute is doing research on right now. But clearly the source matters as well.
I'll look into doing a breakdown by industry, but it takes a lot of time to do something like that. Unfortunately I don't exactly have a research staff at my disposal.
If you're looking to do some more campaign hackery Wallace, why don't you go research some local campaign financial reports. Selling beer to minors? Hmm....
So, you guys want me to look into who's providing beer to minors, like say underage college students, in return for things such as, oh, I don't know, maybe helping to pack a political meeting? Now that could get really interesting!
Or did you mean something else?
Yeah, actually, I think you should. Go for it. Please, God, go for it. I beg you. You are a coward, so you never will, though. Moral coward, intellectual coward, and political coward.
You know, when somebody hints that they think you might have been be a participant in a crime, the smart response generally is "I don't know what you're talking about.", not "I double-dog dare you to prove it!" Particularly when your answer implicates a lot of other people. People who might not appreciate the fact that you just essentially ratted them out.
But thanks for confirming my suspicions. I'm sure that information will be rather useful some day. As might the fact that you were the one who gave it to me.
Oh, and you do realize that anonymity on the internet isn't always quite as anonymous as one might think.
You ever think they *want* you to know their identity? Not everyone is chair of an organization you're trying to bring down and not engaging you isn't "implicating people in crimes." And, I'm pretty sure there are about 5 different people spaming you, Detective Wallace.
Russell - call Eli Lewien out. Why do you keep putting up with his bullshit? What a child.
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