Sam Stein reports that Obama's fundraising may be slowing a bit:
Major donors to Barack Obama's campaign were told Wednesday evening that fundraising efforts were "a little slow" and that they should help retire Hillary Clinton's campaign debt so that the New York Democrat's supporters would, in turn, give to Obama."There was no negativity about Hillary," said one Democrat. "In fact the opposite. Fundraising is a little slow and it is very important to ramp it up. Hillary donors are a major source of donor dollars. The message to the troops was 'Get your five checks for Hillary in so that you can ask her donors to give to Barack.'"
This while McCain reports that he and the RNC have a combined total of nearly $100 million in the bank, and expect to raise twice that amount before the convention.
On the face of it, this would seem like a strange month for Obama's fundraising to slow. Normally, the month after securing the nomination is the best month for a nominee of either party.
However, I did start to wonder about the nature of Obama's small donor funding network. While I may be proven wrong, it seems to me that the most compelling time to give, for small donors especially, would be right in the middle of a hard fought campaign with lots of media coverage. And in fact, it was during the toughest months of the primary that Obama raked in the most cash.
The problem with the general election is that it offers no such incentives, in the form of make-or-break primaries, to spur donations. Hence, Obama has to go to the network of big donors, which may be why June's numbers may not meet expectations.
And if they don't, expect a flurry of media stories over whether Obama's decision to opt out of public financing was the right one.
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