Based on the January filings with the FEC, Barack Obama has raised more money from small donors (those giving under $200) than Mitt Romney has raised in total. Romney has raised 90% of his money from big donors (those giving more than $200). Without the Super PACS this would be completely disastrous because big donors can only give so much to the campaign and then they are capped out, while Obama can keep going back to his small donors for more. Romney can get around that limitation thanks to the Supreme Court’s outrageous decision in the Citizens United case, but that doesn’t mean he’s not in trouble. The truth is that Romney’s campaign is rapidly going broke.
The Romney for President committee spent nearly $18.8 million against more than $6.5 million raised in January, and it reported $7.67 million cash on hand as of the month’s end.
At that rate, by the time February is done, Romney will be selling IOU’s to the Chinese to keep his campaign going. By comparison, the president has $96 million in cash on hand and no immediate need to use any of it. And, as I’ve noted, most of his donors are in position to give several more times before they’re maxed-out.
I don’t usually enjoy Dana Milbank’s irreverent style, but his latest column does capture the reality on the ground for the Romney campaign.
In terms of sizzle, Sen. Rob Portman makes Mitt Romney look like Lady Gaga. So when the two men shared a stage in suburban Cincinnati on Monday afternoon, the result was pure and unadulterated ennui — exactly the sentiment greeting Romney’s presidential aspirations in the Republican electorate.
“If you think,” the Ohio Republican exhorted the crowd, “we need fresh new direction and decisive leadership in the White House, then Mitt Romney is your man.”
Silence in the audience.
“If you’re looking for work or you have friends who are looking for work,” Portman went on, in monotone, “then Mitt Romney’s your man.”
Crickets.
“If you think government has grown too large,” the senator continued, “then Mitt Romney’s your man.”
Nothing.
Five more times, Portman tried the refrain, and each time it produced no reaction. He hurried through his script, straightened out his pile of index cards and called forward Romney, who gave an equally lively speech that praised, among other things, ulcer medication.
If you’ve spent the last four years surfing in the liberal blogosphere, you might be under the misimpression that Obama’s base is disillusioned and won’t respond the same way they did in 2008. It’s simply not true.
The number of donors to the campaign is staggering compared to the last election. According to numbers provided to The Huffington Post by the campaign, there have been 1,309,644 individual donors to the campaign. The campaign passed 1 million donors on Oct. 17, 2011, 189 days earlier than during the 2008 election.
The campaign stated when it hit the 1 million donor mark, that 98 percent of the donations received by the campaign came in increments of less than $250. This is somewhat misleading as it represents the amount given per donation, not per donor; some donors giving small amounts ultimately give more than $200 in the aggregate.
Obama will be criss-crossing the country this summer and fall appearing before sold-out throngs of adoring organizers and fans. Romney will be more like Spinal Tap, working small halls, dealing with cancellations, trying to explain gaffes like the “Smell the Glove” cover and the miniature Stonehedge stage props. Should he stick with “Hell Hole” and “Sex Farm,” or should he try to sell them with “(Listen to the) Flower People”?
I appreciate that the US political culture is very different to European political cultures, but I can never figure out why a guy making $30K p.a. should be expected to donate to a guy worth $300 Million. Sure, rich dudes may help out their “friends” in the expectation of some favour being returned at a later date, but for the guy on main street? What’s in it for him even if he does think that Romney is a swell guy?
Because they believe in the cause? They hate the other side? People usually have some sort of reason.
Donating to presidential campaigns is a low ROI. Better to give your money to smaller offices imo.
Why not give to both? I’ve donated to Obama and the local candidate who’s running for Congress.
Because I make $900 a month after taxes, with $700 going to student loans.
Super PACs will make it up. They’re getting six-figure donations. They’ll handle the adds, all Mittens needs to do is voter stuff. Don’t think he’s good at it, but there it is.
I found this interesting:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/02/21/why-run/
Why run indeed? What is Romney trying to prove?
Why is Mitt running? The same reason that W ran for a second term. To outdo Dad.
This could be true… Not the same needing to justify meager intellectual skills that W had. But maybe living up to dad’s standards?
Undoing the gaffe that prevented George Romney from besting Richard Nixon.
why run?
Because Willard believes HE should be President.
period.
that’s the beginning, middle and end of the story.
he is the EPITOME of the entitled rich, White male.
Obama will be criss-crossing the country this summer and fall appearing before sold-out throngs of adoring organizers and fans. Romney will be more like Spinal Tap, working small halls, dealing with cancellations, trying to explain gaffes like the “Smell the Glove” cover and the miniature Stonehedge stage props.
BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
The actual laugh line here?
Important words?
“Adoring” and “fans.”
What is this? American Idol?
Please. He’s just another politician in the employ of the Permanent Corporate Government. Have we learned nothing yet?
Truest words?
“Sold-out.”
AG
Silly AG.
Even the least political women in my life have sniffed the right’s spirit, raging for revenge. My Facebook page is “Cry Havoc!” all the time. The birth control coverage mandate has let slip the dogs of war.
But you have no nose to smell anything but Iran.
What I speak is merely the truth. There will be two tours this summer. One will be well-attented, festive, optimistic, and fun. One will be much like Spinal Tap, but without the sex, drugs, or (quality) Rock and Roll.
And here is a preview for you:
I’m sure you will find fault with these musicians, but tell me the truth. Does the president look worried?
You know, Booman…you have no understanding whatsoever about what I might call “groove.” That rhythm section was cooking…as opposed to say the lame motherfuckers that you most often post as your “favorites” here like the Roiling Stones or the Gratingly Dead. They were in tune; they were in good time, and they had a bone-deep understanding of the idiom in which they where playing. B. B. King is a master musician who paid his dues for decades on the Chitlin’ Circuit…that’s what they called it, baby, the clubs in the black neighborhoods of America before the twin scourges of CIA-supported crack and Wall Street-supported gentrification collapsed those neighborhoods into mere shells of their former strength…and on a quick listen so were the other players up there. The little I heard of the trombone player? He sounded wonderful!
Now…what were those musicians doing there? They were playing for their supper, that’s what they were doing. Had they been hired to play for Romney at the same price they would have been there too, most of them. I hope they made tons of money. The blues is the base of all great indigenous American music with the exception of most of the the Hispanic styles, and they were playing the real thing.
I am sorry that you and the majority of the rest of the American population no longer has the capacity to hear the difference between real music and the denatured crap that has been increasingly presented as “music” to the culture by the corporate-controlled media over the past 60 years or so. It’s just another part of the decline of this civilization that has resulted in masses of people who are not sufficiently aware of the resonance of truth to be able to tell the difference between say George Romney, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul.
So it goes.
Down like a motherfucker.
Get real.
If you still can.
AG
P.S. Oh…that other guy? The slim dude in the expensive suit? No, he doesn’t look worried. He knows the fix is in and he’s enjoying his run. He can even sing half a lick or so, just as Bill Clinton could play a little saxophone. It’s a sign of intelligence, and I have never doubted his intelligence. But it is not a sign of honor. He has compromised his royal ass off for decades to get to a place where he has enough money to be asked to fake a couple of phrases with a master like B. B. King, and in signing the National Defense Authorization Act he has potentially sent the asses of everyone who disagrees with the economic imperialist course upon which this nation is apparently irremediably embarked straight down the river. Luckily for you, as long as you continue agreeing with such actions you’ll never have to worry about that eventuality.
So that goes as well.
Enjoy it now, though.
It’s later than you think.
Bet on it.
P.P.S. Further evidence of the fix? The media has finally found its anti-Santorum meme.
Took ’em long enough.
Obama vs. Romney in 2012. The male model who can sing a little vs. the tomato can/robot/Mormon/rich fella.
Duh.
Duh.
Funny. Mick Jagger handed him the mic. A 68-year old man with the pipes of a 23-year old. My evidence?
I’ll never understand your disdain for Jagger and the Stones. The Dead? Sure. Unprofessional. Often out of tune. For a pure musician, it’s hard to get past that to enjoy the magic they produced. But the Stones, and Jagger in particular, are professionals. And Jagger has always known what’s up, from promoting reggae before it was cool, to going back to the true blue pioneers of the 20’s and 30’s for inspiration.
Just as you do with Obama, Booman, you mistake production values for “talent.” Pipes? Bullshit. Recording techniques and tech gadgets. They could make Walter Brennan or Nancy Pelosi sound the same way. It’s just about how much money they want to spend.
“Super Heavy?” Do you actually believe that shit? It’s all about the money. Do you really think that Jagger could deal with that big blonde girl in the video? On any level? Besides money, of course? She’d tear him up and spit him out. Please. Do you think that he could perform the gymnastics that the dancers are performing? Of course not. Well…he could barely sing when he could sing. All’s he’s ever done is pose. Just as you do with that progressive poseur Obama, you…and a majority of the other Americans of your class and age…swallow it whole.
Y’pays yer money and y’makes yer believe.
Yes, the Dead were unprofessional. And the Stones were professional. Unprofessional…and relatively untalented…but sincere on one hand, and professional, slightly talented but totally insincere on the other. Not much to choose from. But you’ve made your choice. Go for the glitz.
Go for the believe bubble.
That’s gonna burst some day, too.
Jagger, Obama…both fakes, Booman.
Plain and simple.
High-production fakes, created for star-struck fools to worship.
We all get what we deserve.
Deal wid it.
Or not, as you must.
Obama’s gonna burst too.
It’s all hot air.
If we’re lucky it won’t be until after the election, because the alternative would be even worse.
So it goes.
You support Obama.
Do you ever wake up seeing the shades of murdered Muslims hovering over your bed? I do, and I have opposed the war(s) and the economic imperialist mindset that necessitates them from the get-go.
No?
Neither does Obama, I’m betting.
But they are up there.
Waiting.
At long last…have you no shame?
I do, just for being an American in the second half of the 20th Century and on into the 21st.
You don’t?
I fail to see how one cannot.
But then…I also fail to see how one cannot support the only anti-war candidate currently trying to become president.
As an old friend and colleague of mine used to say when he introduced his music…”Homicide is not entertainment.” That tagline didn’t get him very far, either.
So that goes as well.
As you blithely prattle on about how super-heavy Obama is.
I got his “super-heavy.”
Right here!!!
Blind murder, while he goes surfing in Hawaii.
That’s some progressive shit, alright!!!
Wake the fuck up.
Nice work, Booman.
Keep an due on the skies, baby.
The chickens will come home to roost eventually.
That is something upon which we can all bet.
It’s just a matter of…when.
Bet on it.
Meanwhile…
Bullshit!!!
AG
Ron Paul, and only Ron Paul, can save us from the scourge of candidate hero worship.
Romney, in this case, would be the lukewarm water.
At that rate, by the time February is done, Romney will be selling
IOU’s to the Chinesehis presidency to Sheldon Adelson to keep his campaign going.Fixed.
Thing is, Adelson is a willing buyer, and Romney’s soul is always for sale, so I think this will work out just fine for the campaign.
Do you s’pose Romney would promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem like Newt has? Because that seems to be Adelson’s price for patronage.
I realize that Mitt would do or say just about anything to be president, but he’s not exactly the audacious sort, either. I’m not sure he could cross that Rubicon.
.
Romney is less hawkish on Israel’s policy of setlement building in Judea and Samaria and transfer of Palestinians to Jordan.
PS In earlier confrontation as Governor, Romney did not succomb to Adelson’s advances for a casino license.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
Will the Obama campaign be able to link up with a lot of local races? Would they be in a position to help a significant number of swing districts?
What makes you think that? Other than handpicking idiots like Tim Kaine, and the idiotic phony Patrick Murphy in Florida?
I’m just asking. I don’t know anything about it.