The money chase
Posted: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 9:20 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats, Republicans
In its examination of the campaigns’ third-quarter FEC reports, USA Today writes that the leading Democratic presidential candidates “have nearly three times more money to wage their battle for the presidency as their Republican rivals, campaign reports released Monday show. It's another sign of the intensity of the race — and a measure of the edge that Democrats have over Republicans in the 2008 contest for the White House.”
“Overall, Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and Bill Richardson have about $104 million cash on hand, compared with nearly $36.5 million held by Republicans Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and John McCain.”
VIDEO: NBC's Political Director Chuck Todd gives his first read on candidate spending.
The New York Times adds, "The reports vividly illustrated the fund-raising advantage Democrats have enjoyed so far this year as they try to recapture the White House after seven years of Republican control."
The big question on the GOP side is who decides to take matching funds and who doesn't. Giuliani's camp has indicated he won't; Thompson's campaign hasn't indicated anything yet (though the Romney campaign sent a memo saying Thompson was going to have no choice but to do just that).
The Washington Post looks at the individual campaigns. “Clinton topped the Democratic field, reporting $35 million available to spend on the primaries, edging out Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who had roughly $32 million in reserve for the battle for the nomination, the campaigns reported. Both Democrats continued to enjoy a huge advantage over their Republican counterparts. Giuliani ended September with $16 million in his campaign account, while his closest competitor, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, had $9 million in available cash. Obama, Giuliani and Romney all spent more than they raised in the past three months, with Romney spending $21 million -- more than twice what his campaign brought in."
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More: "While most of the candidates concentrated their spending in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission yesterday show that Giuliani invested thousands of dollars opening campaign offices in places such as Fargo, N.D., and Columbia, Mo. Giuliani's decision to spend there, as well as in Florida, New Jersey and Illinois -- all states that will be part of a Feb. 5 mega-primary -- signals that he alone among the Republicans is laying the groundwork for a national primary strategy, campaign strategists said."
And: “The latest entrant to the GOP field, former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) reported $7.1 million in cash on hand. Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) finished September with $3.5 million in the bank, but after factoring in $1.7 million in debts and $1.8 million in funds he can use only if he becomes the GOP nominee, McCain finished the third quarter $94,000 in the red. Sen. Sam Brownback (Kan.) had just $95,000 on hand after he spent heavily in an unsuccessful attempt to win the Iowa straw poll.”
While Clinton tops all candidates in cash on hand, the
Wall Street Journal notes that “Mrs. Clinton's fund-raising report may be notable more for the contributions she gave back than for the money she hauled in. In her report, Mrs. Clinton disclosed the names of about 250 people who contributed $800,000 to her campaign at the request of fund-raiser Norman Hsu. Mrs. Clinton gave the U.S. Treasury an additional $23,000, representing the amount of money that Mr. Hsu had given her over the years.”
The
AP reports that "Obama ramped up his advertising toward the end of third quarter, spending nearly $3.3 million on media. He has placed more than 4,200 spots on television, practically all of them in Iowa, according to Nielsen. Clinton has placed nearly 2,200 spots, with more than 1,600 airing in Iowa."
The Obama camp decided to send out a fundraising email last night to "close the gap" in cash-on-hand. From the email: "The situation here is simple. We are $2.1 million behind. We must close that gap right now. I need you to make a donation… Hillary Clinton aggressively seeks money from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs. She's even said that these lobbyists represent real Americans."
The New York Daily News looks at some of the campaigns’ expenditures. Thompson apparently like fine food and liquor; Huckabee shops at Sam’s Club; Giuliani paid more than $100,000 to his old security firm for a bodyguard detail; and Romney spent more than $4,000 on … the Yankees.
And in the ad war competition, Romney leads the pack with 10,893 ads aired thus far -- followed by Richardson’s 5,975 spots purchased and then Obama’s 4,293.
