Redstate

Posted at 3:30pm on Jul. 7, 2008 Obama Will Sell Anything

"I Sell the Things You Need To Be. I'm the Smiling Face on Your TV"

By Mark I

The Obama campaign officially announced today that Sen. Obama will accept the Democratic presidential nomination in an open air event expected to draw 75,000 people. The campaign takes pains to point out that free tickets will be available for the torchlight rally acceptance speech, but...

If you make a donation of $5 or more between now and midnight on July 31st, you could be one of 10 supporters chosen to fly to Denver and spend two days and nights at the convention, meet Barack backstage, and watch his acceptance speech in person. Each of the ten supporters who are selected will be able to bring one guest to join them.

This guy will sell anything. So much for the new politics. Obama's campaign is more motivated by money and fundraising than any campaign in recent memory. One wonders if this will continue into an Obama presidency.

"For a donation of $25 dollars or more, you could be one of 10 lucky people to be flown to Washington D.C. to sit in on an exciting intelligence briefing in the White House Situation Room. Afterwards, you'll be given an exclusive tour of the Oval Office and get to listen in on a secure phone call between President Obama and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Your whirlwind day will conclude with a special de-briefing by the president and the opportunity to personally sign one letter of President Obama's signature to the official roll back of the Bush Tax Cuts."

I guess "fixing a broken public finance system" means "sell anything that isn't nailed down including my dignity and the dignity of the office in order to out raise my opponents" in Obamian.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Democratic Convention | fundraising | Liberals | Obamafiles | Same as the Old Politics — Comments (22)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:34pm on Jun. 21, 2008 Mother's Milk

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

I do hope that all those people who believe that fundraising is a sign of political enthusiasm and that the Obama campaign's success at fundraising means that there are more people enthusiastic about the Obama campaign and Democratic prospects than there are people enthusiastic about the McCain campaign and Republican prospects take note of this:

Led by chairman Mike Duncan, the Republican National Committee ended May with 13 times more money in the bank than its Democratic counterpart and raised five times as much money in the same time frame.

As The Times' campaign finance guru Dan Morain points out, the sums are significant as presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain squares off against the far more richly funded Sen. BaraRepublican National Committee chairman Mike Duncan who's leading a successful fundraising drive for GOP presidential nominee John McCainck Obama for the last 136 days of the general election campaign.

Based on the numbers so far, the Republican Party appears poised to act as the financial equalizer in the fall campaign. The RNC disclosed that it ended May with $53.5 million in the bank, compared to $3.9 million for the Democratic National Committee, which is headed by Howard Dean.

And this:

For the first time in the campaign, Republican John McCain in May raised about the same amount of money, $22 million, as Democrat Barack Obama.

McCain also closed the gap in the amount of cash the two parties' presumptive presidential nominees have in the bank at their respective disposals as they enter the first phase of the general election.

McCain reported having about $32 million in cash for primary-related expenses at the end of May.

Obama reported having $43 million in hand at the start of June -- but about $10 million of that is dedicated to the general election.

Obama's fundraising in May marked a sharp dropoff after months of record-breaking donations. Even in difficult times, such as the key loss he suffered in Pennsylvania in April, Obama brought in a steady flow of cash that usually topped $30 million a month.

Posted in 2008 | fundraising — Comments (1)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:48am on Jun. 10, 2008 Obama Victory Disease.

As his campaign approaches the midway point.

By Moe Lane

I was not aware that The Hill was publishing political erotica these days:

Obama could raise $100 million in June, fundraisers say
By Alexander Bolton

Leading Democratic fundraisers predict that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will raise hundreds of millions of dollars over the next few months if he opts out of public financing and begins raising money for the general election.

Specifically, they say Obama could raise $100 million in June and could attract 2.5 million to 3 million new donors to his campaign.

These fundraisers say Obama could increase his fundraising dramatically because of three factors: a boost of enthusiasm among Obama donors following his clinching of the nomination; the migration of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) donors to his camp; and the mobilization of big Democratic donors who have given little so far this year.

You heard it here first! Well... here, and Hot Air. 100 million! People with names said it, and everything! Must be true!

(deadpan)

Ooh, baby.
Ooh, baby.
Ooh, baby: ooh.

(/deadpan)

Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | fundraising | matching funds — Comments (14)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:36pm on May 7, 2008 The Next Big Thing for the Right?

By Bluey

Conservatives and Republicans have whined for the past year about their disadvantage vs. the left's activism, fundraising and journalism websites. I've monitored it closely on blogs and heard about it during countless panel discussions. There has been continuous talk about how to grow, adapt and change.

That discussion has revealed the monumental challenges facing the right -- both online and offline. There's frustration with the non-existent "Republican brand" and resistance among many conservatives to embrace technology. I've witnessed these challenges up close both on Capitol Hill and in my job at The Heritage Foundation, a 35-year-old institution that is (slowly) trying to strengthen its footing in the digital world.

Changes are happening all around, including here at RedState. As Erick reported earlier today, this site will undergo its own restructuring as part of version 3.0. The new RedState will fill important voids on the right, particularly at the state and local level, one of the fastest growing areas for citizen journalism.

Posted in conservatism | fundraising | Online Activism | politics | Technology | Technology — Comments (6) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 4:59pm on Aug. 28, 2007 New RightRoots launches

First to market AND best in breed

By krempasky

Having a full election cycle under its belt, the good folks at ABCPAC have relaunched the all-new RightRoots.com. And make no mistake - this is the tool that we've been waiting for, hands down. They did what the Republican Party couldn't get done (not necessarily through its own fault, btw) and they got it done better than anyone else, period.

One of the biggest challenges (criticisms) facing ABCPAC last cycle was its lack of flexibility. Only slates were presented, and users, bloggers, other activists were precluded from choosing THEIR preferred candidates or causes.

No longer. The new site is simple, it's straightforward, it's well-designed, and it's open to anyone that wants to help a candidate with an (R). It's not hung up on (distracted by, in my mind) building community, being persuasive, garnering support - or anything else for that matter. It's a transactional vehicle and a hugely valuable piece of infrastructure for conservative activists online. As it should be.

Huge hats off to the fine folks at ABCPAC for getting this out in the wild.

Posted in 2008 | Elections | fundraising | rightroots — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »