Obama Raises $32 Million in January
Senator Barack Obama’s campaign is reporting that it has raised $32 million in the month of January alone.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised $32 million in the single month of January, matching his best three-month period last year, aides said Thursday.
The money positions Obama for the sweeping Feb. 5 primary contests, when 22 states will be in play for the Democratic nomination. Aides also announced that with their money they can now advertise in states beyond the Super Tuesday contest next week.
This is money that Obama sorely needs if he wants to be competitive on February 5. As I mentioned on OTB Radio yesterday, the best hope that Obama has is to be competitive on Super Tuesday–that is, he needs to win some states outright and keep it close in the big states like New York and California. It’s doubtful that he will be declared “the winner” on Super Tuesday, because he simply doesn’t have enough time to campaign and close the (ever narrowing) polling gap between him and Clinton. However, if the race remains close enough after Tuesday, then he might have the breathing room he needs to take the nomination in later contests. Maybe.
That said, I can vouch that Obama is definitely using his money. So far I’ve seen several ads on TV for Obama here in Kansas, which is the first time in living memory I have actually seen a TV commerical for a presidential primary candidate in this state. Benefits of being a Super Tuesday state instead of a June primary state, I suppose. So far, thank God, I haven’t gotten any robo-calls.
Correct me if I am wrong, but all the democratic primaries have proportional delegate allocation. So losing 51% to 49% means you are probably no more than one or two delegates behind even though you “lost”.
In contrast, several of the states in the Republican primaries are winner take all. So a 51% to 49% loss is just as bad for the second place person as a 99% to 1% loss.
So Obama just needs to stay close enough that you can get to the super delegates being the deciding factor. Then he makes his case to the super delegates.
It is also money that B. Hussein received from jailed Arab extortionist Antonin Rezko.
In California (San Francisco), the Clinton and Obama ads are in full swing. It looks like a one for one. Clinton’s ads are touting energy independence, Obama’s ads touting Health Care. Both high road so far.
I’m guessing that Clinton gamesmanship will out over the Obama supporter’s passionate idealism, but it will continue to be a WWF Battle Royale until the convention.
The more bitter, the more heated, the more personal and nasty the Clinton/Obama steel cage match becomes – the more likely they wind up tag-teaming on the same ticket to go after the Republicans. When Clinton wins, she’ll understand that the only way to bring the oh-so-bitter Obama constituency (poor babies) along is to put him on the ticket. Her ambition will trump their animosity. With that ticket, the Dems have the best chance to win and probably will.
It is the best thing for Obama too. After 8 years as VP, the experience thing goes away, and the Presidency is his by acclamation. We probably won’t even bother with an election. The country gets 16 years of Democrats in the White House. You can decide for yourself if that is a good thing. Personally, I don’t mind, as long as the Dems don’t hold both houses of Congress. No way to avoid that for the next two years, but the Republicans will have a reasonable chance to retake the Senate in 2010.