Friday, July 1, 2011

Obama Campaign Signals Fundraising Fail

The Obama campaign appears to be signaling that its fundraising totals for the second quarter of the year – the first since President Obama announced for reelection – will not be as robust as the campaign would like.

In an email to campaign supporters today, President Obama unmistakably sought to downplay money.

We’re closing the books on the first fundraising quarter of the 2012 race at midnight tomorrow.

A lot of folks will be interpreting our numbers as a measure of this campaign’s support.

They’re not wrong, but they are wrong about why.

We measure our success not in dollars but in people — in the number of everyday Americans who’ve chosen to give whatever they can afford because they know we’ve got more work to do.*

Campaign officials revealed during the last week that they have set a target of raising $60 million for the quarter from at least 450,000 donors.

But even $60 million would not seem to be a very ambitious goal for Obama. He raised the same amount during the second quarter of 2007, just after he announced his 2008 campaign.

The campaign is hoping to raise up to $1 billion total for the 2012 election.

The email reiterates a call for donors to give at least $5 in order to be automatically entered into a raffle for dinner with Obama and Vice President Biden.

No comments: