Expectations -- Who Met Them, Who Didn't
In Marc Ambinder's opinion only... and his opinion can be changed by strong, persuasive arguments:
Candidates who exceeded first quarter fundraising expectations
#. Sen. Barack Obama (probably)
# Gov. Bill Richardson
Candidates who met first quarter fundraising expectations
# Sen. Hillary Clinton (barely, although the expectations were somewhat ridiculous to begin with)
# Ex-Gov. Mitt Romney (we kind of knew he'd be number one from his $6.5M first day)
# Ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani (a strong March augurs well for the 2nd quarter)
# Sen John Edwards (where he needs to be)
Candidates who failed to meet first quarter fundraising expectations
# Sen. John McCain (probably)
# Sen. Chris Dodd (banking + insurance + general chairman of the party = $4M?)
# Sen. Joe Biden (lawyers + Chicago money = $2M?)
Candidates who did not set, -- or did not evoke any set of -- expectations
# Ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee
# Sen. Sam Brownback
# Rep. Dennis Kucinich
It seems to me that the question of whether Romney met expectations is determined by when those expectations were set.
After Romney's $6M first day, yes, he was expected to be in this range.
Before the $6M first day? We knew there was low-hanging LDS/Harvard/Bain/VC/Boston fruit, but no one would've picked Romney as #1.
As for Clinton/Obama...it seems to me that the same thing applies. If you had said several months ago that Obama would raise as much as Hillary, then that would be shocking.
And yeah, McCain's take is definitely underwhelming.
So how much did Obama raise? All I'm hearing is rumors and we all know how that sometimes ends.
agreed, on every account. be interesting to see what Obama comes up with, but I gotta figure that every hour he delays the release, the better his numbers *should* be, right? whoops, there goes that expectations game again.
I'd say a ballpark figure of $20M would be impressive for Sen. Barack Obama. The number that my husband says surprises him is Sen. Obama's # of donors. We'll have to wait and see how much he raised.
So how much did McCain bring in?
You will have to wait for McCain's numbers since he was busy collecting donations for his campaign on Baghdad streets heavily guarded by 100 soldiers, blackhawk helicopters and apache gunships. LOL. So you may find a last minute surge in his fundraising.
Simple question: How much Romney money was LDS (Mormon) and how big an issue is that going to be?
I believe there is nothing really to discuss today besides the University of Florida GATORS along with how Bill Richardson is going to win FLORIDA and carry the rest of the union and confederate states. It's not about the money. It's about the ideas. About putting forward new ideas and taking the heat for it. And plus shedding a few extra pounds.