Daily Archive

February really was a month for record numbers. First with this blog, and then with barack Obama. He managed to raise an unprecedented and record (breaking Clinton’s $36 million record for the month) $55 million in the 29 days of February.  There were 727,972 donors for that amount, with a huge 385,101 being first time donors. This late in the race, and at this junction, I’m surprised by this number of first timers. $45 million of the $55 million came from online donations, with 90% being $100 or less, and 50% being $25 or less. 44% of all the first timers went on to do volunteer duties for the campaign as well. This includes telephone calls, local rallying, letterbox drops, and more.

With the primary race certainly going on for more than a month, the ability to raise money is unprecedented. The two campaigns have to be able to cover costs for the next month and a half just to get through the next 3 primary states. And with such a gap between Mississippi and Pennsylvania (41 days), with only the odd debate to come through, the campaigns will have to spend big to keep their faces on television. And Pennsylvania isn’t a cheap air-time market either. I expect that March might see the two campaigns raise roughly the same amount, or have Obama get an edge over Clinton. But not by much. Though, that doesn’t really matter - he raised $20 million more than her from the last month, and a similar amount in January. He has more money than her on-hand, and will for the rest of the race. I just hope he spends it wisely - and gets some more wins.

Thomas.