Thursday, April 26, 2007

Who won the Democratic debate?

(see the Republicans debate next Thursday, May 3 on MSNBC)

My comments
Clinton: Held her own as a front runner. Didn't sound angry. Mentioned finding bin Laden. Mentioned "the Clinton Administration" when appropriate. Sounded presidential?

Obama: Disappointing? Not as good as he is on the stump? He answered two questions really well (the first when Williams asked him a tough follow-up question). He shouldn't have gotten into it with Kucinich. Has he come down to the level of the other candidates because of this debate? Or is his level so high right now that if he doesn't juggle fire it's a let down?

Gravel: Wow.

Biden: Best answer of the entire debate: "Yes." Paraphrasing: he answered the question of whether he could assure the American people that he wouldn't be too verbose on the world stage. I clapped for that answer!

Gravel: Again, wow. Somebody afterward said he stole Kucinich's thunder.

Kucinich: He's probably right on a lot, but he won't be president or vice-president. How is that possible? The same reason communism doesn't work? Great theory, but the reality is. . .

Monday, April 16, 2007

FEC Filings:

Primary Money Raised this quarter:
Obama: $24.8 million
Clinton: $19.1 million
Richardson: $6.2 million

Giuliani: about $12 million on hand
Romney: about $12 million on hand
McCain: $5.2 million on hand

Edwards: $10 million on hand

More info:
"But Clinton established a solid overall financial advantage by transferring $10 million from her Senate campaign account and limiting her spending -- in part by carrying $1.6 million in debt, including money she owes to several key advisers. She also raised $7 million that can be spent only if she becomes the nominee." WashingtonPost.com

Sunday, April 15, 2007

For those that are interested:

I saw this on C-SPAN this morning and went to his website to confirm it. (None of the other candidates, Republican or Democratic are in Wisconsin this coming week.)

Please join Milwaukee in Welcoming
Senator Barack Obama
To his Wisconsin Kick-Off Event
Benefiting Obama for America
April 16, 2007
Doors Open at 6:00PM
The Milwaukee Theater
500 West Kilbourn Avenue
Milwaukee, WI 53203

Friday, April 06, 2007

Study Review Prepare

No Blog posts are necessary until the week of April 16-22. Use this time to begin studying, reviewing, and preparing. Also, write your media essay. Check back here every couple days for tools to aid your studying.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Opinion: Does money matter? Should money matter?

WASHINGTON - Two Democratic presidential candidates broke previous fundraising records during the first three months of the year, with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton setting a high bar of $26 million in new contributions for the quarter. Former Sen. John Edwards raised more than $14 million since the beginning of the year. Clinton also transferred $10 million from her Senate campaign account, bringing her total receipts for the quarter to $36 million.

Unlike Edwards, Clinton aides would not reveal how much of her total was available only for the primary election and how much could be used just in the general election, if she were the party's nominee. By not breaking down the amount available for the primaries, the Clinton camp made it impossible to assess how much of an edge she actually has over Edwards.

Edwards' aides said about $1 million of his $14 million in contributions could only be used in the general election, should he win the nomination. Neither Clinton nor Edwards disclosed how much money they spent in the quarter or how much cash they had in hand — numbers that also give clues to the relative strengths of the campaigns. Still, the total raised by each candidate outdistanced past presidential election records and set a new bar by which to measure fundraising abilities.

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, sandwiched in public opinion polls between Clinton and Edwards, had yet to reveal his totals.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's campaign said he had raised $6 million in primary campaign money and had more than $5 million cash in hand at the end of the three-month period. Aides to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said he raised more than $4 million in the quarter, transferred nearly $5 million from his Senate campaign account and had $7.5 million cash on hand. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., said on "Fox News Sunday" he had raised about $3 million in the quarter. Biden also had about $3.6 million in his Senate campaign account that he could transfer to a presidential run.

The rest of the Democratic field and the Republican presidential candidates planned to announce their first-quarter totals over the next few days. The fundraising deadline for the January through March period was Saturday, with financial reports due April 15.

Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee held the records for first-quarter receipts: $8.7 million for Gramm in 1995 and $8.9 million for Gore in 1999. Gramm dropped out before New Hampshire held the 1996 election's first primary.

"We are completely overwhelmed and gratified by the historic support that we've gotten this quarter," Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said. The Clinton total included $4.2 million raised through the Internet, typically a source of small donations.

By not breaking down the amount available for the primaries, the Clinton camp made it impossible to make clear comparisons to past campaigns or to the Edwards total. "We're above our budget for the year," Edwards deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said. "We're completely on track to have all the money that we need to be highly competitive in the campaign."

Most of the top tier candidates in the Republican and Democratic fields for 2008 are raising money for the primaries and the general election. The general election money can only be spent if the candidate wins the nomination.

Obama also has raised money aggressively and aides said he had more than 83,000 donors. Clinton's supporters had fretted in recent weeks that Obama could surpass her in fundraising.
Obama, in an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, was coy.

"I think we'll do well," Obama said. "I think that we should meet people's expectations. More importantly, I think we will have raised enough money to make sure we can compete for the next quarter and beyond. I think we'll do pretty well."

Edwards reported raising more than $3 million on the Internet and easily passed the $7.4 million first-quarter fundraising mark he set in his 2003-04 presidential campaign. No Republican presidential candidates had released fundraising totals Sunday. For the first time since the post-Watergate era changes to campaign finance laws, candidates are considering bypassing the public financing system for the presidential primaries and the general election. Several of the top candidates are raising both primary and general election money, artificially inflating their receipts.

Candidates cannot touch their general election money and must return it to donors if they do not win the nomination.

The Federal Election Commission ruled recently that candidates could also collect general election money now and still accept public financing later, provided they returned the money they raised. The opinion came at the request of Obama, who then said he would finance his general election campaign if his Republican rival did as well. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., issued a similar challenge.

The first-quarter totals are one gauge of a campaign's strength. Compared with previous elections, attention to fundraising during the first three months of this year has been especially acute because the leading candidates have decided to forgo public financing for the primaries.