Over on Slog, Josh is worried about the DNC’s lack of fundraising, citing a disturbing paragraph in a front page article in today’s New York Times:
But the Republican National Committee, which is permitted to spend money on Mr. McCain’s behalf, has raised $31 million, compared with just $6 million by the Democratic National Committee.
But Josh makes the classic journalistic error, by failing to heed the creed of journalism consumers everywhere: “Don’t believe everything you read in the newspapers.” Even our nation’s paper of record, the NY Times.
The NY Times was flat out wrong; those are cash-on-hand figures, not dollars raised as stated. According to Open Secrets, the RNC has outraised the DNC $123 million to $73 million for the cycle, but even those figures are meaningless when taken out of context. Overall, between the two parties’ major fundraising committees, we have a virtual tie at about $330 million each, with the Democrats holding a substantial $27 million edge in cash-on-hand.
At all levels, that’s a huge reversal from previous elections, when the Republicans typically out-raised and out-spent the Democrats by wide margins.
But even that only tells part of the story. Bucking complaints from the Beltway establishment, DNC chair Howard Dean has doggedly pursued a “50 State Strategy,” pumping money and infrastructure into states the party has all but ignored for decades, rather than hoarding cash for the general election. This strategy has left the DNC perpetually broke, but paid huge dividends in 2006 when Democrats picked up key seats in traditional afterthoughts like Montana. It has also put Democrats in a position to exploit Republican meltdowns like that happening in Alaska. If you ask me, that’s money well spent.
As for the RNC’s $50 million fundraising lead, $20 million of that has come over the past three months, a time during which McCain had the Republican nomination all wrapped up, while Obama and Clinton continued to fight it out. To put this in perspective, Obama and Clinton have raised a combined $420 million for the cycle compared to McCain’s $77 million — a $61 million to $12 million advantage in March alone. And with the Democratic ticket finally settled, expect the DNC to keep pace with the RNC, if not narrow the gap between the two committees.
So while Josh may be worried, I’m not. Folks can’t let up, but comforted by some actual numbers, rather than a scary paragraph in a newspaper, I remain confident that the Democrats are in a helluva position heading into the fall elections.
Crushed:
– Dave Reichert
– Dino Rossi
– John McCain
Which spouse of a presidential candidate-
Was a special needs teacher?
Involved with clearing land mines – travels to these countries on a detonation team
Have a 19 year old serving in iraq
Adopted a girl with a cleft palate in bangladesh from an orphanage
Have a family foundation for children’s causes
Active with halo trust to clear land mines, provide food&water in war ravaged and developing countries
Works with the charity “operation smile” for corrective surgeries on children’s faces
Had two back surgeries, became addicted to painkillers and talks openly about as part of her recovery.
Marvin @2,
Who gives a fuck?
Faced with America turning against your party, the best you can do is try to spin McCain’s wife’s addiction into a plus? That’s going to sway this election? Good luck with that.
It appears she has and is doing much good in this world. And all you care about is she was addicted to painkillers?
Ouch!
Do you have the same disdain for people that use illegal drugs that are democrats?
Marvin @4,
You brought up her addiction, not me. And we’re not voting for a first lady, we’re voting for a president.
Again, if your best response to the rising Democratic tide is to point to the charity work of McCain’s beer heiress wife, good luck with that.
Do you have the same disdain for people that use illegal drugs that are democrats?
If legally perscribed, pain medication isn’t illegal. Are you implying Cindy McCain broke the law?
You’re so silly Stamm.
By the way, since you’re such a fan of Cindy why doesn’t her husband share your high regard:
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/....._0407.html
Wonderful guy you’re supporting for Prez Stamm.
Have another shot of snake oil cool-aid, Marvelous Marv. You probably use the optional on-the-go IV dispenser, right? That is the most efficient method to stop those pesky brushes with reality.
You interpreted it as trying to stem the rising tide.
I meant it as this is the stuff the liberal biased media never gets around to talking about. Instead they focus on the beer distributorship and her problem with painkillers, both addiction and the law breaking.
Don’t forget, tides rise and fall.
Actually, as I understand it, Cindy McCain stole pills from a medical-aid charity she heads and she used the names of unsuspecting employees to get prescriptions.
But, of course, she’s not running for president; she just holds all the assets that support the man who is but won’t disclose her finances.
Don’t the facts say she did break the law? Court ordered community service, druggies anonymous, drug testing and a fine.
If a book by Cliff Schecter the best you can do to prove how mccain feels about his wife you sure aren’t going to convince anyone that doesn’t already hate a war hero.
Aw, look how cute she is:
@2 Which spouse of a presidential candidate killed her ex-boyfriend? (Hint: She’s a Republican)
@4 It’s easy to be a special needs teacher when your daddy is a gazillionaire businessman and you have a trust fund that ensures you will never have to worry about how to pay rent, a mortgage payment, or monthly grocery and utility bills.
Much less easy if you have to live on a teacher’s salary.
And if jerks like you had their way, you’d pay no school taxes at all and teachers wouldn’t have jobs and most kids wouldn’t go to school or be taught.
Fuck you, Stamm. And all your ilk — fuck them, too.
@10 War hero? McCain goofed off at Annapolis, was a lousy pilot who wrecked 5 airplanes and a set of powerlines, was the only guy in his flight of 20 attack planes to get shot down, and as a POW broke under interrogation and signed a propaganda “confession.” You call a guy like that a “hero”?
Speaking of reading it in the newspapers…
How about those Mountaineers in West Virginia? Those stalwart Democrats who are expected to go overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton because – these are Democratic Party loyalists, mind you – “Obama is a Muslim and his wife’s an atheist,” according to one retired coal miner (probably a UMW member).
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2a50.....s01=1.html
“No Democrat has been elected to the White House without carrying West Virginia since 1916, yet Mr Obama appears to have little chance of winning there in November. Recent opinion polls indicate that Mrs Clinton would narrowly beat Mr McCain in the state but Mr Obama would lose by nearly 20 percentage points.”
It would be refreshing to see some of the HA Happy Hooligans candidly discuss Barack Obama’s shortcomings – and they are shortly to be coming forth more readily. How will he convince that retired coal miner to vote for him? Or will he, like most of the Happy Hooligans, simply write the guy off as a lesser being unworthy of consideration?
If so, it’s too bad we don’t run Prexy elections like they did in the early part of the 19th Century since that would at least make Barack the Veep. Damn that 12th Amendment anyway!
Again, from the Financial Times:
“A visit to Mingo County, a Democratic stronghold in the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, reveals the scale of Mr Obama’s challenge – not only in West Virginia but in white, working-class communities across the US. With a gun shop on its main street and churches dotted throughout the town, Williamson is the kind of community evoked by Mr Obama’s controversial comments last month about ‘bitter’ small-town voters who ‘cling to guns or religion’.
‘If he is the nominee, the Democrats have no chance of winning West Virginia,’ said Missy Endicott, a 40- year-old school administrator. ‘He doesn’t understand ordinary Americans.’
***
“The depth of opposition is particularly striking considering that Mingo County is one of the most Democratic places in West Virginia, having cast about 85 per cent of its votes for the party in the 2006 midterm elections. If Mr Obama cannot win there in November, he has little chance of carrying the state.
Most people questioned said they mistrusted Mr Obama because of doubts about his patriotism and ‘values’, stemming from his cosmopolitan background, his exotic name and the controversy surrounding ‘anti-American’ sermons by Jeremiah Wright, his former pastor. Several people said they believed he was a Muslim – an unfounded rumour that has circulated on the internet for months – despite the contradiction with his 20-year membership of Mr Wright’s church in Chicago. Others mentioned his refusal to wear a Stars and Stripes badge and controversial remarks by his wife, Michelle, who described America as ‘mean’ and implied that she had never been proud of the US until her husband ran for president.”
So often, spew from the Happy Hooligan cesspool dismisses people like these West Virginians as being beneath contempt, yet as the article repeatedly points out, without their support, a Democrat cannot win the White House.
My question, then, is whether the HA Happy Hooligans will climb on the diss bus or reach out with respect to embrace them all in the spirit of unity and a hoped-for victory.
My guess? Elitists do what elitists do, so I’m not looking for inclusionary overtures any time soon. After all, who needs their coal anyways, right?
The Piper
@16 I heard you were dead, crackpiper. I see you’re not. We don’t need the funeral music anymore … would someone please turn off the screechy bagpipes?
@15…RR…
If asked the question, I’m sure both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would.
Tell you what…why don’t you take your “McCain is a closet coward” campaign and make it part of the overall Democratic Party campaign? Get candidates up and down the ticket to criticize John McCain’s military and Vietnam War record.
Have them all, like you do, accuse him of being a traitor. See how far that gets you.
Why don’t you go to an American Legion, VFW, or Order of the Purple Heart post and try it on for size?
When it comes to picking winning campaign themes, you clearly were hiding behind the door when God was passing out the brains.
The Piper
So Piper.
How are those of boys of yours handling the news that the Bush Administration has been sending their fallen comrades in Iraq and Afganistan to veterinary facilities to be cremated with race horses and cocker spaniels. Those neocon pals of yours are really taking care of the troops. What a bunch of shit heads republicans are.
ratcity
@17 Where did I say McShame is a traitor? I didn’t say that. All I said is he broke under interrogation and his buddies didn’t. All I said is he’s a slacker who graduated 894th out of 899 in his Academy class. All I said is he was an incompetent pilot who had one accident after another. And you think this guy is qualified to be president? I can see where Republicans might think he’s the best their party can dredge up from its stinking barrel of rotten apples, but he’s certainly not the best candidate our country has.
Oh yeah, in case I forgot to mention it, McShame is also a gigolo who dumped his wife for a rich bitch after his wife was disfigured in a car accident and wasn’t so pretty anymore.
Hair-trigger temper. Prone to violent outbursts. Impulsive. Emotionally volatile. Aggressive and bullying. This is the guy you want to give the nuclear codes to?
10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … These are the stakes …
@19 That’s not all that Republicans do to our brave troops! They call up reservists and guardsmen for 179 days of combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan so they won’t have to pay for veterans benefits. (You don’t get bennies unless you’re on active duty for 180 days or more.) And if these guys are wounded in combat, they get billed for their medical care in Army hospitals!
Racist, anachronist, retired coal miners, the soccer moms of 2008? Not.
The Republicans best bet is to pass more voter ID laws in as many swing states as possible in the hope that they can suppress the 90 year-old nun vote. It seems that stacking the court had little to do with overturning Roe vs Wade and a lot more to do with election fraud and dealing a direct slap in the face to those despicable nuns. Added bonus – every time they slap a nun around, the Reverend Hagee gets his rocks off.
No one’s mentioned Air, Sweet Moma Express. How many wives out there let their sweet baboo’s go for cross country rides on Moma’s Corporate jet?
Wasn’t one of the bush twins also a teacher?
And what is it the clinton offspring does? Oh yeah, hedgefund manager.
I would be “refreshing” to see a Republican discuss John McCain’s shortcomings too. But I’m sure as hell not holding my breath.
Let’s see…the last time I checked, it was John McCain, not Cindy, running for President of the United States, Commander-in-chief, leader of the free world (whatever the hell that means, anymore) and the guy who can push a button and turn three-quarters of the planet into burnt toast.
Cindy may be highly intelligent, tremendously compassionate, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent, but her husband (remember? the one who’s running) has reportedly addressed her in public using a word that some more intemperate members of the left all too often use in reference to the worst of the worst of the right-wing “pundits”.
Since it’s been brought up here, when McCain was not in such favor with the Republican kingmakers, the child he and Cindy adopted was the object of a smear campaign intended to give the impression that she was the mixed-race love child of one or the other of them.
If Cindy has a child serving in Iraq, I’m sure it warms her heart that her husband wants to continue waging that war in perpetuity.
Republicans are saints according to Stamm – except for all the corruption, the ineptness and the policies they implement.
McCain has:
broken the rules on elections
Hired a lobbyist for Myanmar for the republican convention
Influenced a land deal in Arizona for a major contributor
Been one of the Keating five – the savings and loan influence peddling scheme
been against torture before he voted for it
had his head of his elections committee lobbying while on McCain’s pay
Thanks for the ethics lesson from republicans, Stamm. When I want a lesson on justice – I think I would avoid the party of Alberto Gonzalez.
Oh- and remember McCain is divorced and dumped his ex-wife and called her a certain name.
Yeah – it was the republican dirty tricks of GWB who tried to label McCains adopted daughter as a mixed race love child – typical slimey republican tactics.
But here is my favorite quote of the day, brought to you by the “ethical” Bush administration:
“
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/n....._corru.php
America’s bloodstained filthy rich drug addicts put in their obligatory stint working with “special needs” students the way the British aristocracy sent their foppish, drunken sons off to serve for a year on board ships of the admiralty. It is seldom more than a show piece on their social resume, the time spent babbling away on the cell phone, arriving late, leaving early, and generally letting the kids who depend on them down.
The career pros who devote their lives to these kids despise this sort of “charity” slumming. But foundations boards and directors demand that it be tolerated for the sake of the money.