Oh-eight (D): Raising big bucks
Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2008 9:54 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Democrats
BIDEN: The Des Moines Register profiles Biden. “Despite consistent single-digit poll numbers, Biden supporters, or ‘Bidenistas’ as [House Leader Kevin] McCarthy has dubbed them, are relying on the support of serious Democrats who are guaranteed to caucus on Thursday.”
CLINTON: The campaign announced a mind-boggling number last night: It has raised more than $100 million for the year. It was unclear, however, how much of that amount is primary money vs. general election money. The Washington Post reports that Obama also surpassed the $100 million marker. At this point, though, it isn't the "raised" number that we care about -- it's the spent...
The candidate picked up an endorsement yesterday from Sen. Maria Cantwell (D). It was Clinton’s 10th nod from a sitting US senator; Obama, by comparison has just two.
DODD: Dodd “has trailed far behind in the polls. In his remarks here and in an interview, he lamented the emphasis on the leading Democratic candidates' money and celebrity status. He warned that may not be good for Iowa's first-in-the-nation future,” the Des Moines Register writes.
EDWARDS: The campaign runs a full-page ad in today’s Des Moines Register, with this headline; “Every Iowan Knows the Truth -- We Must Fight For Change.” The ad also includes a testimonial from a laid-off Maytag worker who is backing Edwards.
The candidate responded to Michelle Obama saying that if Edwards were nominated he’d be handicapped because he’s limited by agreeing to take matching funds. "‘When you're resorting to arguments about how much money somebody has, you're in a bad place,’ he said. ‘Because you're not saying, “He's wrong on this issue, or he's wrong on that issue. And he's not a good candidate.” They're not saying any of that. They're saying, “But we have more money.”’” Then Elizabeth Edwards also came to her husband’s defense. “‘I'm surprised and disappointed in Michelle,’ she said.”
The Boston Globe checks in with Edwards with a front-page story headlined, “Edwards brings fighting words: Populist message stirs old passions in a different era.” “With few programmatic differences among the Democratic candidates, the top three are distinguished from one another largely by their readings of the national condition. Senator Hillary Clinton of New York has emerged as the field's realist, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois as its idealist, and former senator Edwards of North Carolina as its cynic, beseeching Americans to realize they are victims of a corporate conspiracy.”
Does this help Edwards or does it hurt him? Per the Politico, “Ralph Nader unleashed on Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday - criticizing her for being soft on defense spending and a chum of big business - and expressed his strong support for John Edwards.”
OBAMA: Obama “told a crowd in Jefferson, Iowa, that in the general election against the Republicans, ‘I intend to whup 'em so good that it won't even be close,’” The New York Daily News reports. The remarks put Obama at odds with the conventional wisdom for early presidential contests - that it's better to lowball expectations and surpass them.”
The candidate didn’t really please the liberal netroots with his recent “that’s why I didn’t become a trial lawyer” comment.
