Nation-Building >> Dean to Top $10 Million for Quarter | return to front page

The Washington Post goes into more detail about Dean's expected fundraising:

But he is also spending money faster than any other candidate. Trippi said Dean will spend $1 million on new ads in key early primary states, including Wisconsin, New Mexico and Washington. By running ads so early in the process, Dean is hoping to build on the buzz surrounding his campaign and generate more money and supporters before rival campaigns get rolling. The other candidates are mostly holding back until after Labor Day, the unofficial start to the heavy campaigning season.
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Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass) and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), who many leading Democrats consider Dean's toughest challengers for the nomination, will not come close to matching Dean this quarter, according to their campaign aides.

"We're not going to raise that -- that's for sure," said Steve Elmendorf, a top Gephardt adviser. But, "at the end of the day, money isn't everything."

Jim Jordan, Kerry's campaign manager, said Dean's fundraising has been an "impressive" feat his candidate cannot match. "We won't hit $10 million this quarter, and we don't need to."

It's astonishing to see other Presidential campaigns assert that money is not everything, and that they don't need it. I sense a reality distortion field.

I personally think $10 million is low, and $20M is too high. I predicted last quarter that Dean will hit the $15 million mark, and I stand by that estimate now, because with the summer ending, everything picks up. I think it will be close. Remember, my Meetup 100,000 by July estimate was only about a month off! current total: 91931.