Not Out-Deaning Dean
MyDD's Jonathan Singer is reporting that nearly a third of the $32.5 mil Barack Obama raised this quarter was raised online. The $10.3 mil raised in Q2 brings his total online numbers $17.2 mil, far surpassing any candidate in the '08 field, and on pace to shatter Howard Dean's $25 mil online mark set in '03. Singer also notes the that 110K online donations so far this year make up 40% of his overall donor base.
MyDD's Jerome Armstrong, however, notes that more than half of Dean's money came from online sources, and credits Obama's use of "paid events" for "skyrocketing" the number of Obama donors. From Armstrong: "I've not seen a story on the phenomenon that he's created, but the paid venues have got to have provided Obama with tens of thousands of donors to add to his overall numbers. It's the speaking-venue donors (similar to a rock concert), not internet donors, that's leveraged the donor numbers for Obama; and alongside the astounding high-donor numbers that have sky-rocketed his total raised, it's combined to create a compelling narrative that gives a strategic advantage to Obama" [CONN CARROLL].
Jonathan goes for the easy story but Jerome makes the overlooked point: How many of Obama's donors are hard-core supporters and how many are just donating because they want to be part of a bigger media event?
As a candidate, Obama has little to commend him and his policy positions are lacking: a "universal" health care plan that doesn't cover everyone but continues to support the health care for profit industry, is tepid about withdrawal from Iraq (yet he thinks he should be the nominee on the strength of his opposition 4 years ago), and he supports coal-to-liquid that is not environmentally friendly. Now with Bush commuting Libby's sentence, Obama can't even muster up some legitimate outrage.
The only compelling narrative is his frequent use of the buzzwords "hope" and "change." His rhetoric is such that one worries he's confusing idealism with reality. Obama needs to wake up and realize that there’s no winning with Republicans. Compromising or celebrating even minor victories is worthless. You have to go for the jugular. It appears obvious that Obama can guarantee he won’t.