Election Day starts today.
You can One-Stop Early Vote now.
It's the easiest and surest way to make sure your vote counts.
You can even register and vote all at the same time. It's easy, even if you have never voted before.
Visit voteforchange.com to find a polling location in your county.
Dear Fellow Democrats, Obamacans and Independents, My name is Donna Mansfield and I have been asked to be the Regional Coordinator for Women for Obama. Some of you know me and some do not, so allow me to take a minute to introduce myself. I am a resident of Fayetteville, a wife and a mother to a wonderful 6 year old. I came to Fayetteville via the US Army and have been actively involved in our community, currently as Board Chair for the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County ;. I was very active in the Primaries on behalf of the Obama campaign and was a Alternate-Delegate to the Democratic National Convention this year in Denver. I am writing to invite you and any other women you may know to join our Women for Obama team here in Fayetteville. Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change will rely on Women for Obama participants like you across the state to make a difference in this historic election. I know that as women we wear many hats and have many different responsibilities but I urge you to become involved and voice your support for Barack Obama. Below I have listed an overview of what we will be doing to help Barack Obama's campaign succeed here in North Carolina.
Dear Obama Friends,
I am still in Mile High City of Denver! Getting to Invesco Stadium included about 3 miles of walking at a snail's pace in a crowd of so many people! I was interviewed in line by German TV Station, US News and My Space. Once in that magnificent stadium, the music, entertainers, sounds and electricity flowing through the stadium is something that will always be remembered. When Barack took to the stage, tears flowed, and it took a while to quiet down, How exciting. History was made and I was a part of it, Now it's time to bring all that enthusiasm and electricity to every little US town and big city to assure Obama is in the White House. Don't stop.....Keep going.....and never give up....Reach out to everyone and let's have Change!
Hi guys,
Bev and I are here in Denver waiting for the roll call. We are staying near the airport and are far from the action right now.
We hope to hook up with denverobamicans to show us around the town.
Peninnah for Obama
Bev for Obama
Sen. Barack Obama's $52 million haul in the month of June is nearly certain to quiet whispers that his vaunted fundraising machine had slowed, and seems to justify his decision last month to opt out of public financing for the general election.
Obama's campaign announced this morning the $52 million take and that Obama had ended the month, his first as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, with $72 million in the bank.
"You continue to prove what ordinary Americans committed to change can accomplish, despite the Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs funding so much of our opponents' campaign," wrote campaign manager David Plouffe in an e-mail to supporters announcing the news that doubled as a fundraising pitch of its own.
"As I mentioned in my video message to you earlier in the week, we're facing a Republican machine with unprecedented resources at its disposal," writes Plouffe. "The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank."
While the money chase tends to get outsized attention in the media -- it's easily quantifiable and the numbers are BIG -- it's impossible to overstate how much money matters in the race between Obama and John McCain.
Obama's decision to opt out of public financing for the general election -- the first presidential candidate to do so since the system was put in place in the early 1970s -- means that money will be front and center to every strategic decision made by both sides in the coming months.
Obama took a calculated risk in opting out: that his fundraising advantage over McCain would be large enough to justify the time and energy it takes to collect hundreds of millions of dollars.
So, how did he do in his first month as the nominee?
That depends on who is doing the analyzing.
Obama soared well above the $30 million figure laid out in the Wall Street Journal (and vehemently disputed by the campaign at the time) but well below the $100 million number that some Democratic fundraisers floated.
Compared to the cash-collecting performance by Sen. John Kerry (Mass.) following his own securing of the nomination, Obama measured up well.
Kerry collected $44 million in March 2004, the first full month it was clear that he would be the Democratic nominee. That was a huge spike from the $8.4 million he had raised in February and the $7.6 million (including a $3.5 million loan) he collected in January of that year. All tolled for his primary campaign, Kerry raised $249 million; Obama, as of the end of June, had collected $347 million -- all but a few million of which is in primary dollars.
Obama did not set his own personal fundraising record for a month. The $52 million in June was close but not quite as much as the $56.7 million the campaign raised in February. In that, Obama is the victim of his own successes; had he not raised $136 million in the first three months of the year (Kerry raised $60 million during that time in 2004, McCain raised just $39.7 in that same time period this cycle), there would be no question about the unmitigated success of Obama's fundraising.
Taken broadly, what Obama's June fundraising number means is that rumors of his fundraising machine's demise have been vastly exaggerated. Obama continues to compete only with his past eye-popping totals when it comes to cash collection and, due to the relatively small average contribution to his campaign ($68 in June), he continues to grow a massive list of donors who can keep giving as he turns his attention to raising money for the general election.
If Obama can put together four more months of $50 million raised, he will have $200 million to spend on the general election; more than double the $84 million that McCain will get from the public financing system. (UPDATE: The Fix, no math whiz, has been informed by several smart sources that the previous calculation is not entirely accurate. Of the $52 million Obama raised in June, jusr $2 million was for the general election. Therefore, Obama needs to find a way to continue to raise considerable cash for the primary -- until he becomes the party's formal nominee in late August -- AND collect money for the general election, a more daunting feat that was made clear above.)
It now seems clear that Obama is positioned to enjoy a significant financial edge over McCain in the general election.
It's important to remember that money, especially at the presidential level, is not determinative of the outcome as demonstrated by McCain's underfunded run to the Republican nomination earlier this year.
But, any campaign or candidate would rather have more money to spend than their opponent coming down the home stretch. And, as of today, Obama seems likely to be in that position when summer turns to fall.
By Chris Cillizza | July 17, 2008; 10:05 AM ET | Category: Eye on 2008 Previous: Fix Pick: Get To Know Sheldon Adelson |
Hi Obama Family,
If you are feeling divorced from the lull in the campaign, don't be! Keep things going. The Barack Phonebank is up and running. We are calling volunteers and supporters who worked the Primaries to get them involved in the General Election. It's refreshing! So, while waiting for an office to open up....get those phones out and call!
Today we witnessed an historic moment! The first lady to ever get this close to the presidency of the United States endorsed our man, Barack Obama! It's time to put our anger, hurt, differences aside, roll up our sleeves and welcome Hillary's supporters. Together, WE CAN win the White House. Let's make another historic moment by working together to put Barack Obama in the White House. See you in January at the Inagural!
