lies, damnable lies and statistics
On Tuesday, the day before the campaign's Q3 fundraising filing deadline, Bush and Co. released this statement, as reported on CNN's Inside Politics:
In my view, Dean must opt out of matching funds. We can't have Dean -- or the Dem nominee, whomever it may be -- sitting in their home state doing satellite interviews for 4 months and unable to afford a plane ride without suckling at the teat of the DNC. This is the reverse of what the Dean movement, and public financing, are all about. Like it or not, if the Dems use a safety net, we might as well call it a game and go home. Is it even worth the fight if we don't have a shot at winning?
Crossposted at Points West and Daily Kos.
The Bush-Cheney campaign has released its fund-raising totals for the just completed third quarter. The campaign brought in an impressive $49.5 million during the period. That brings the total race since May to almost $84 million. The campaign says it has about $70 million in cash on hand.Sounds down-home grassroots, right? Well not so fast.....on the day of the filing, this from Wednesday's Inside Politics:
Well, who is donating all that cash? According to the campaign, 262,000 people have made donations, representing 99 percent of all the counties in the nation. About 145,000 donors gave $200 or less.
Of the $49.5 million for the Bush camp raised from July through September, most of it was raked in at events headlined by the president, the vice president, or the first lady. The campaign estimates that 262,000 Americans donated to the reelection effort in the third quarter.Sure wish I could show you the graphic -- these folks are responsible for something like 80% of the donations. And remember all those critiques of Gray Davis regarding pay-for-play? Rangers and pioneers in most cases have business before the administration or Congress -- and would it surprise you to learn that they usually get what they want?
But the super fund-raisers, known as "rangers" and "pioneers," brought in the lion's share of the money. Most of those rangers and pioneers come from the president's home state of Texas.
In my view, Dean must opt out of matching funds. We can't have Dean -- or the Dem nominee, whomever it may be -- sitting in their home state doing satellite interviews for 4 months and unable to afford a plane ride without suckling at the teat of the DNC. This is the reverse of what the Dean movement, and public financing, are all about. Like it or not, if the Dems use a safety net, we might as well call it a game and go home. Is it even worth the fight if we don't have a shot at winning?
Crossposted at Points West and Daily Kos.
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