Obama raises over $150 million in September

[D.Turtle]

And THIS is why Obama passed on public financing:

Over 632,000 new donors
Over 3.1 million individual donors
Average Donation: $86
Over raised $150 million in September alone

David Ploufe announces the September results

This huge advantage in cash over McCain (even including RNC and 527s) allows Obama's campaign to compete in every state that is remotely competitive, while continuing to build up his humongous ground game.

Its really exciting to see the change that Obama has already brought to the US. The Reagan Revolution is at its end

[Fire Fly]

You're a bit late but I'll accept your appology

Another source from MSNBC.

Obama raises $150 million in September
Influx has helped Illinois senator expand field of competitive states Barack Obama will win the presidency

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama reports raising more than $150 million in September in an unprecedented eruption of political giving.

The influx of money has helped the Illinois senator expand the field of competitive states and has widened his financial advantage over Republican rival John McCain.

The monthly figure pushed Obama's total fundraising to $605 million, unseen before in presidential politics. The campaign offered no details, but must submit a monthly report to the Federal Election Commission on Monday.
Story continues below ↓advertisement

Obama's numbers are possible because he opted out of the fall campaign's public financing system. McCain chose to be in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election.

[ray245]

So, people who isn't rich can challenge the established order after all.

[Solauren]

Yup. They just have to do it in sufficient numbers

[Eframepilot]

Holy fucking shit. That's unbelievable. I personally have donated around $50; I never imagined that the September total could be so enormous. So much for the Republicans being competitive at all on the money front. No wonder they're resorting to robo-calls; they can't afford anything else.

[Guardsman Bass]

It kind of makes me sad, though, since it means that money is going to be even more important in the next race, and now they have a proven fund-raising model for doing it.

[SirNitram]

SCANDAL! SCANDAL!

Link

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama raised more than $150 million in September, a stunning and unprecedented eruption of political giving that has given him a wide spending advantage over rival John McCain.

The Democrat's campaign released the figure Sunday, one day before it must file a detailed report of its monthly finances with the Federal Election Commission.

Obama's money is fueling a vast campaign operation in an expanding field of competitive states. It also has underwritten a wave of both national and targeted video advertising unseen before in a presidential contest.

Campaign manager David Plouffe, in an e-mail to supporters Sunday morning, said the campaign had added 632,000 new donors in September, for a total of 3.1 million contributors to the campaign. He said the average donation was $86.

The Democratic National Committee, moments later, announced that it raised $49.9 million and had $27.5 million in the bank at the start of October. The party has been raising money through joint fundraising events with Obama and can use the money to assist his candidacy.

Obama's numbers are possible because he opted out of the public financing system for the fall campaign. McCain, the Republican nominee, chose to participate in the system, which limits him to $84 million for the September-October stretch before the election.

Obama initially had promised to accept public financing if McCain did, but changed his mind after setting primary fundraising records. His extraordinary fundraising is bound to set a new standard in politics that could doom the taxpayer-paid system. Many Republicans have begun to second-guess McCain's decision to participate in the program.

McCain, reacting to Obama's announcement, raised the potential for fundraising abuses. He said Obama is "completely breaking whatever idea we had after Watergate to keep the costs and spending on campaigns under control. ... That has unleashed now in presidential campaigns a new flood of spending that will then cause a scandal, and then we will fix it again"

While McCain said he was not suggesting the Obama campaign had done anything illegal or improper, he said "history shows us where unlimited amounts of money are in political campaigns, it leads to scandal."

Obama's monthly figure pushed his total fundraising to $605 million. No presidential candidate has ever run such an expensive campaign. His campaign raised $65 million in August, his previous best.

"The overall numbers obviously are impressive," Plouffe said in a campaign video. "But it's what's beneath the numbers in terms of average Americans who have had enough, who want a change and who are really fueling this campaign."

With his money, and a favorable political wind at his back, Obama has secured his foothold in states that have voted for Democratic presidential candidates in the past. But he has also been able to expand the contest to reliably Republican states, forcing McCain and the Republican Party to spend their money defensively.

Plouffe pointed out that the campaign is now spending resources in West Virginia. Obama running mate Joe Biden was scheduled to campaign in Charleston, W.Va., on Friday and the campaign has secured television advertising in the state for the next two weeks, according to ad data obtained by The Associated Press. Plouffe hinted at further expansion, noting that public opinion polls show the race tightening in Georgia and North Dakota.

As much as Obama raised, he needed a big fundraising month to justify his decision to bypass the public finance system. Financially, he has been competing not only against McCain, but against the GOP, which raised $66 million in September.

The combined Obama and DNC totals for September now give the Democrats a distinct financial advantage going into Election Day, just 16 days away.

McCain spoke on "Fox News Sunday."

Do you understand? The goal is to remove influence. Even if that influence is from normal voters and not massive bundlers and corporations, it must be bad if he raised more than McCain.

[Aratech]

SCANDAL! SCANDAL!

Link

Do you understand? The goal is to remove influence. Even if that influence is from normal voters and not massive bundlers and corporations, it must be bad if he raised more than McCain.

Ahh, the sweet, sweet, smell of desperation. That really does make my day.

Sir Nitram, I tip my hat to you, sir.

[Qwerty 42]

"We can't find any, but there's probably a scandal there."

Very nice.

Personally, I've given $30 to Obama. I hope he made the most of it.

[RedImperator]

It kind of makes me sad, though, since it means that money is going to be even more important in the next race, and now they have a proven fund-raising model for doing it.

If the money is coming from millions of individual small donors, then so what? It just means that whoever is elected will actually owe his constituents more than the moneymen.

I have no doubt, by the way, that some Republican is going to figure out how to use this fundraising model in the near future; they've got a huge, rabid base full of people who are already used to giving away small amounts of money regularly. They just need someone charismatic and web savvy (and probably a populist who needs a big wad of fuck-you money to compete with Wall Street's chosen candidate, assuming Wall Street has anything besides pocket lint and wooden nickels this time four years from now).

[Guardsman Bass]

It kind of makes me sad, though, since it means that money is going to be even more important in the next race, and now they have a proven fund-raising model for doing it.

If the money is coming from millions of individual small donors, then so what? It just means that whoever is elected will actually owe his constituents more than the moneymen.

I was referring to the overall role of money in the elections, not the specific morality of the fund-raising model itself (which I think is superior to the whole Bush-style networks of wealthy fundraisers).

I have no doubt, by the way, that some Republican is going to figure out how to use this fundraising model in the near future; they've got a huge, rabid base full of people who are already used to giving away small amounts of money regularly. They just need someone charismatic and web savvy (and probably a populist who needs a big wad of fuck-you money to compete with Wall Street's chosen candidate, assuming Wall Street has anything besides pocket lint and wooden nickels this time four years from now).

Someone already has (and he's not even a "popular" Republican in the sense that he has the support of most of the base) - remember Ron Paul's "money bombs"?

[Justforfun000]

All I can say is that I hope Obama does what I expect him to do..win the election, and do a stellar performance as President of the United States. HOPEFULLY people will see the general positive effect of democrats over republicans by comparing Reagan, Clinton, Bush, etc. The internet is the most unifying and unprecedented tool we have ever known in my opinion.It's so easy to look up things now that I have hope the majority of intelligent, discerning people will be informed of the facts far better then before.

So many opinions and arguments in the past were based on word of mouth and limited provincial minded local news sources. Now it's easy as pie to get access to diverse sources. It's a hugely optimistic scenario.

[SirNitram]

There's one absolutely huge advantage to Obama's method and the sheer scale:

The maximum single donation possible is, IIRC, 2,500 dollars. Obama's average is under 100. With these in mind, how much sway does any one man, group, or influence-peddler have over him? Not Much. It's alot cleaner.