Maybe the cheeseball Great Seal of Barack was an attempt to boost fundraising, because Obama barely beat the lowly John McCain in the May numbers.
Obama had his weakest fundraising month of the year, collecting $22 million and ending the month with $43 million cash on hand and $304,000 in debts. But $10 million of his 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.
Republican John McCain, who secured his party’s nomination in March, raised $21 million in May and had $31.6 million in the bank. The figures place him virtually on same financial footing as Obama — a level of parity that would have been unimaginable just a few months ago.
The RNC has also been saving its pennies and is crushing the DNC.
The Republican National Committee, however, ended June with 13 times more money in the bank than the Democratic National Committee. The RNC had $53 million cash on hand to the DNC’s $4 million. Both parties are allowed to assist their presidential candidates with coordinated campaigns.
From Open Secrets via Politically Drunk, it seems that McCain is trending up.
On a day-to-day basis, however, McCain is crossing the finish line first more often, at least among larger donors–in April he outraised Obama on 15 days among individuals giving more than $200, compared to only six in January, two in February and nine in March.
While it certainly would be no surprise if Obama’s fundraising juggernaut picked up again, one wonders why he had a low month.
Also, though cash is king in politics, Obama outspent Hillary 3:1 in Pennsylvania, and lost by 10. He outspent her 2:1 on ads in Ohio, and lost. Indeed, Obama outspent Hillary, $75 million to $46 million in the Democrat primaries and the nomination fight was essentially a tie.
Obama is not selling an objectively good product. He is spending millions trying to convince the Eskimos they really need his ice. By the fall, maybe we will see that it is really not ice at all, but millions of jars of snake oil.
Also find Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room