MyDD :: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 March Donations Tonight

Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 March Donations Tonight

by Walt Starr, Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:08:09 AM EST

The money game is vastly important to politics, and Barack Obama is clearly the single best fund raiser ever in American History. He set the record for funds raised in a single month last month, and will explode that record this month.

In the first month of the year, he broke his own record hauling in $36.5 million with 256,000 donations.

In February he blew that record out of the water with $55 million in receipts from 727,000 individual contributions.

March will definitely be another record breaker.

He ended February with an amazing 983,000 total contributions for 2008. AS of 9:53 AM EDT this morning, March 22, Barack Obama has 1,947,525 individual donations in 2008.

That means that as of right now, Obama has received 964,000 individual donations in March.

His average donation size in February was $75. If he maintained that as an average doantion size in March, he has received month to date a total of $72,300,000. IF that figure dropped to $50 per donation, he has received month to date a total of $48,200,000.

The average daily rate of donations stands now at 43,818 if you do not allow for another donation today. That works out to over 1,350,000 donations for the month. That number does not take into account the astounding rate of increase in daily donations, either. He cold be sitting at 1,500,000 donations for the month of March before it is all said and done.

Taking the lower number of 1,350,000 and the lower estimate of average donation size ($50), we can project a record breaking monthly haul of $67,500,000 at a minimum.

Taking the higher projection of 1.5 million donations and the February average donation size of $75, we can project a maximum haul of $112,500,000.

That's a big range, but it's pretty evident that when it's all said and done, Barack Obama will have raised somewhere between $67 million and $112 million in the month of March.

Tags: Barack Obama (all tags)

Permalink :: 32 Comments :: Post a Comment

Slightly off (none / 0)

He got 1,000,000 total donors in his entire presidential campaign previously. We're talking about total donors in 2008 alone.

Despite my medical expenses, I'll probably shoot another $25 off to him soon.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:19:12 AM EST

Re: Slightly off (none / 0)

Yeah, he needs it. Doesn't he basically have enough for the rest of the primaries?

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:28:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Slightly off (2.00 / 1)

HE's still got to fight off McCain, and needs every penny there.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:32:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Slightly off (none / 0)

And if he takes public financing based on his agreement - then where does your money go?

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:34:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Doubtful (2.00 / 1)

McCain has already blown past the public financing spending limits and is in serious hawk with the (toothless) FEC.

Even if Obama wanted to accept public financing, he couldn't, because the FEC doesn't have quorum.

That said, if Bush for some reason stops obstructing the FEC nominations, then Obama would still be able to campaign the hell out of every minute until the Democratic National Convention with the cash he has now. The spare money would either be kept in his coffers for his re-election campaign or given to the DNC for spreading around Democratic nominees around the country (helping to guarantee maintenance of congress and other important races).

There is no downside to donating to Obama now.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:39:23 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Slightly off (2.00 / 2)

What agreement? He said he'd negotiate.

Kinda hard to negotiate with a campaign that already broke a public financing pledge.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:43:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Seriously. (none / 0)

McCain doesn't have a leg to stand on in that argument.

The media was so negligent in reporting the nuanced and insightful response that Obama gave to that pledge.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:05:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 March Donations Tonig (2.00 / 2)

He hit 1,000,000 individual donors at the beginning of MArch. That's individual contributors since the campaign began.

What I'm tracking in my diary is individual donations, not donors.

For example, I became an Obama donor online the day he announced in February of 2007, so I was one of those 1,000,000 donors.

I have donated twice this month, so while I did not add to the individual donor count, I did add two donations to the total donations count of 1,000,000 in the month of March.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:21:29 AM EST

Ah, I missed that (2.00 / 1)

Individual donations. That's still awesome.

You can donate $25-$75 dozens of times over the course of a campaign; a million people doing this ensures a steady cash flow for the candidate; one of the places where Clinton had difficulty is that she relied too much on huge $2,300 donations right at the start (sometimes $4,600, with half of it marked only for the general), and those donors were then exhausted and she needed to work harder to get new donors.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:34:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

FYI...I live in Ohio, in an apartment with 20 units.

Obama's campaign would drop of 500+ full color booklets EVERY DAY to the apartment complex during the OH campaign.

The manager would throw them out.

How about donating to a charity? Or waiting until Obama needs the cash?

I just hate tosee people's hard-earned money be wasted.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:45:40 AM EST

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (2.00 / 2)

I think I'll go donate another $100 to Obama.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:47:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

And I'll donate $100 to a family in need.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:48:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (2.00 / 2)

I think my donation wil do that family more good in the long run, but yours will do more good in the short term.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:49:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

Mine will buy food and clothing, while yours will buy...more...what?

There is such a thing as overkill in an election. For example, I live in an apartment complex with 20 units.

Obama's peeps would drop off about 500 full-color booklets EVERY DAY in our lobby, all of which were routinely tossed in the trash by management.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:52:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (2.00 / 1)

On mistake in one precinct is not indicative of how a national campaign is run.

In fact, looking at the financial reporting, Obama is running the single most efficient presidential campaign in history.

Long term, an Obama presidency will do more for those who are disadvantaged than anything else.

So, I will be contributing zero dollars to any charity so long as the primaries continue. All money I would have otherwise donated to any charity will go to the Obama campaign.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 10:58:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

Obama is spend the most of any candidate - $1.5 million per day.

It could easily be argued that Obama has spent more per delegate than either McCain or Clinton, and is therefore overspending.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:06:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (2.00 / 1)

Whoever has the most delegates, wins. HE also ends each month with more money on hand than the past month. Ergo, he is spending precisely what he needs to spend.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:10:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

As a fnancial director, I find your explanation puzzling.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:11:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

It's simple.

He's not overspending. HE is spending what he needs to spend to obtain the delegates he needs to win while not spending more money than he has.

He's cash flush. He most likely has more than $50,000,000 in the bank to go towards winning the most votes in November besides spending what he needs to in order to win the most delegates.

IF anybody is overspending, it's Hillary Clinton. She keeps ending months in the red. McCain has further overspent and may end up in legal trouble over it. Any time a company or campaign spends so much money it draws attention to potential criminal legal investigations, that company or campaign has overspent.

If you, as a financial director, cannot see that, I have pity for the company that hired you.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:18:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

Thanks for the kind comments in the last line, Walt.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:25:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

And, for the record, there are two definitions for the word "overspend."

One is what you are arguing...spending more than one has (in your example, Clinton).

The other is spending more than what is prudent(my argument concerning Obama).

Was is prudent, for example, for Obama to play his radio commercials on a loop here in Cleveland, OH during commercials breaks? Did he have the money? Of course. Was it wasted spending/overkill? Perhaps.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:35:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I am assuming (none / 0)

you will be telling the Clinton campaign the same thing? Or is it just Obama that is the problem.

-- be excellent to each other

by kindthoughts on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 12:14:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Obama Will Hit 1,000,000 (none / 0)

Since Obama did well in the Cleveland area, I cannot see how it can be argued he overspent on advertising there.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 12:29:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Overspending? (none / 0)

All of that money goes into local economies wherever he campaigns.

"Overspending" would be if he spent more than he could afford. "Overspending" is when I have barely enough money in my checking account to buy food and rent, but then go buy DVDs. Obama has $30 million in the bank, with only about $260,000 in debts (compare to something like $8 million in debt for Clinton), so obviously that's not the case.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:13:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Overspending? (none / 0)

So, based on this logic, it is therefore OK for you to be charged $100 for a kleenex box in a hospital, or for the government to spend $1,000 on each toilet seat they purchase? They money goes back to the economy.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:16:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]

That's not based on my logic (2.00 / 0)

The Obama campaign is not being overcharged for anything. They're spending money and getting the desired results. The money they spend goes to local communities around the country, many of whom haven't seen a political campaign come through town in decades.

If anyone is being overcharged, it's Clinton. She's not getting too much in exchange for all her highly paid consultants.

How much is it worth to get your candidate into the White House so he or she can help to repair the country? Can you really put a dollar value on that?

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:56:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Ok that had to hurt :) (2.00 / 1)

-- be excellent to each other

by kindthoughts on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 12:15:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Probably smart (none / 0)

While I realize that charities do need funding throughout the election season, I also understand that one of the main reasons we need those charities is because we've had corrupt, evil government officials giving welfare to multibillion dollar corporations while not looking out for normal people.

Our money to Obama is working to ensure that the spirit of charity will exist in the White House as well as in our hearts.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:09:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Probably smart (none / 0)

I hope that Obama can live up to the high expectations that are set.

by mjc888 on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:19:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Me, too. (none / 0)

I'm not blind. I know it's going to be tough; Obama does, too.

I hope Obama is held accountable for everything he does as the Democratic nominee and as president... because ultimately, that's what we need as citizens; accountable government.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 11:59:13 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I say you continue your crusade (none / 0)

in a Hillary fund raising diary.

-- be excellent to each other

by kindthoughts on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 12:16:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

6000 donations in 2.5 hours (none / 0)

Since posting this diary, Obama has hit 970,000 donations in March.

Bill Foster would agree, Barack Obama has coat tails.

by Walt Starr on Sat Mar 22, 2008 at 12:33:20 PM EST

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