The Hinterland
Rants from the hinterland. Denver writer and pretend anthropologist Dave Cullen's take on the world.

Monday, June 30, 2003


And a little BIGGER perspective . . .

From the same AP story

Bush raised $3 million for his re-election effort at fund-raisers in Miami and Tampa, Fla., while Vice President Dick Cheney helped the campaign collect at least $500,000 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and $600,000 in Akron, Ohio.

The Bush campaign expected to raise around $30 million by the close of the second quarter at midnight Monday after six weeks of fund raising. Bush entered the race in mid-May.

Of course they're in two different races at the moment, and the incumbent can always raise a lot more, and the R can (nearly) always raise a lot more. But they--whatever they the D's nominate--sure are going to have their work cut out for them next fall.

But I'll think about that tomorrow.


Comment                     11:30:58 PM                      trackback []                     




And now, for a little perspective

From the AP story:

Though Dean had yet to surpass the 24-hour record of $1 million over the Internet set in 2000 by Republican candidate John McCain, his online total was the highest announced so far by any campaign.

I guess that will be the next goal, but they'll have to give it a rest first. (Look for it on the last day of next quarter.) Of course the McCain thing was in the heat of the primaries (I believe right after he won NH), when money is traditionally rolling in. This is much more impressive, though still shy of the record.


Comment                     11:24:22 PM                      trackback []                     




The coverage

I'm looking around for stories and don't see a whole lot yet. I was hoping my buddies at Salon would do something, but apparently not. Tomorrow? Nothing at Slate either. Just the wire stories and some prominent placement in a great W Post piece summing up this round of the "money primary." It opens:

After a final day of online fundraising that netted more than $500,000, former Vermont governor Howard Dean closed the second quarter of the presidential fundraising year atop the Democratic field. Meanwhile the early money leaders -- Sens. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and John Edwards (N.C.) -- battled to keep up, the campaigns said yesterday.

It's about the whole field and does a really great job of laying everything out. If the numbers it and AP are reporting hold, it will look about like this for Q2 (in millions):

Dean: 7

Kerry and Edwards: 5

Gephardt: reaching toward 5

Lieberman: reaching toward 4

Graham: 2-3

Kucinich: in seven figures (meaning, probably just barely)

Moseley Braun: .15

Sharpton: no comment

AP posted a story about the money primary as well, with the latest update at 12:30 a.m. (But the eastern papers probably went with an earlier version with lesser results). Lead:

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean took in at least $802,000 over the Internet on Monday to lift his second-quarter fund raising to roughly $7.1 million. Rival Joe Lieberman made a dramatic plea for last-minute money as he and others scrambled to catch up in donations.

Reuters doesn't seem to have updated since 7:15, with a story putting him at $6.8 total, 500K on Monday.

More from WP:

Dean's online gold mine -- he also has signed up 45,000 supporters to attend "meet-ups" across the country Wednesday night -- stunned his rivals.

An adviser to another candidate said: "Ever since 1996, people have been talking about the potential of the Internet to organize and raise money, but no one figured out how to do it. Not even Al Gore. The thing about Dean is, not only is he using it, he is building an organization through it and he is raising money through that organization."

NYT just posted the AP story to their site. Does that mean that's all they'll have? Perhaps the day after.

So far, it's slightly better than I predicted: a bit more than a few paragraphs in several stories already set to round up the money primary as the quarter closes. No dedicated story yet that I've found.

If you want more info on the Dean campaign, check out Jason's xtra-rant. He had better spreadsheets than I did, with better predictions than me all night. He's a highly-enthusiastic supporter, so I imagine you'll find more from him on the topic there over the next year.

 


Comment                     11:05:47 PM                      trackback []                     




NYT story

This is about 24 hours late, but since it's been Dean-day, here's the NYT piece from this morning.

Key quote:

"He'll beat everybody," Steve Elmendorf, a senior adviser to Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, said of Dr. Dean.

That's when he was anticipating a $6.5 mill quarter.

It will be very interesting to see how the rest of the money pans out. I guess we'll start hearing in the next day or two what everybody raised.


Comment                     10:23:05 PM                      trackback []                     




Final tally--more or less

Wow, the rate is actually rising again. $25K in the final half hour--although apparently it's not quite so final anymore (they're now saying you can contribute up till midnight in your timezone--how often has that been an issue before?)

Sort-of final tallies:

$7,109,311 for the quarter.

$802,083 online today.

That's it for me.


Comment                     10:13:52 PM                      trackback []                     




11:30 numbers

Wow. Another 20K at 11:30. Up to 7.084.

Looks like he'll break 7.1 mill, though it could be close if things drop off suddenly. But they're not so far. Very interesting.


Comment                     9:34:49 PM                      trackback []                     




11 p.m. numbers

I'm suddenly sick of doing this, but said I would, so here's the brief 11 p.m. update:

20K in half an hour, that's not bad. That's more than 2/3 of what he was getting just before the final push. Well above than I expected.

Could finish close to $7.1 mill. Probably 10-20K shy.


Comment                     9:20:28 PM                      trackback []                     




Amnesteed!

Oh my God, that little Dean frenzy almost cost me $1500. This was the final day of Colorado Tax Amnesty month, and I was just getting everything caught up this year (got caught up with the feds in January.) No penalties and half the interest on any old returns you filed today.

And I almost blew it. That mag assignment came up suddenly and I didn't have a chance to do it before I left, so I knew I had one day when I got back. Got in late last night, went to sleep at 3, woke up and started blogging! This freaking addiction. Didn't pull the taxes out until 3:30, and then I had to figure out where I had everything, reprint the forms, redo one year, figure out where to take it ...

I ran in at 4:27, three minutes early, though of course they had their clocks three minutes ahead, bastards. But their website was also wrong, they were open till 4:45, so I was way early. Shew!

I cannot tell you the relief of having all that behind me. Saved $850 in interest and maybe $500-600 in penalties. (They have brutal interest here: about three times the rate of the IRS.) Thank God it's all in. I'm totally up to date. Except for my 2003 estimated payments. Blast. Plus I put today's bill on a credit card. But still, it's filed, they're paid, I'm no longer delinquent. Feel lighter already.

But not thinner, because I missed my workout entirely. These addictions.

Tomorrow, back to writing. The other kind of writing. I've got a magazine story to compose.


Comment                     9:07:58 PM                      trackback []                     




Still sailing

10:30 numbers up, and he just had his best hour of the day (by 1k over the 5:30-6:30 numbers, though I'm rounding to the nearest 1k each time).

Hard to know how to read the intevening numbers, because I'm sure the $7 mill was actually before 10 p.m., since there has always been a lag. But he is still sailing well past 7 mill. $45K over the goal now.

The next set of numbers will be most interesting. Will it drop off a cliff, or keep going fairly strong? Somewhere in the middle, I'd guess, but closer to the cliff.

(I may be the only one, but I find the psychology of how this all works fascinating. I know it's the same basic principle as NPR fundraising week, but that bores the crap out of me. They do it too often (for my amusement) and there's so little at stake, relatively. I could study this all night. But I've GOT to get to the gymn.)


Comment                     8:44:49 PM                      trackback []                     




An interesting little exchange

From the Deanblog message board, where all the frenzy was going on:
 
Dan Slater, 9:47p.m. (all times Eastern):
As the Secretary of the Colorado Democratic Party, I have been reluctant to endorse any candidates, at least this early. I don't mind saying that I have gone back and forth in my mind between Dean and Edwards several times in the past few months, and will likely do so several more in the following months.

... That being said, I am SO EXCITED by this raw outpouring of support for one of our Presidential candidates. It truly gives me hope in the future of our Party -- indeed, our Nation -- that Howard Dean can trigger such an emotional reaction among people who had previously been jaded or silent.

Regardless of candidate preference, every Democrat and progressive-minded person has to feel bolstered by what is going on here today. This is America. This is what our forefathers died for. This is Democracy.

And this is why we're going to beat Dubya next November.

From a Cynthia in Massachusetts at 9:47:

Mr. Slater, pay close attention to what has happened here and talk to your higher-ups at the national level. Something is truly rumbling out there....

As Charlie Pierce, a reporter for The Boston Globe Magazine, one wrote:

You can hear the great river of the country’s counter-narrative echoing like something deep in the rocks.

Dan Slater, 10:02

Cynthia in MA:

After the past 72 hours, I assure you that the whole Democratic political establishment is getting "the message" you're sending. Just an FYI, though, only two of our Colorado State Party officers have endorsed candidates - and one of them endorsed Dean.

You all are making a difference.


Comment                     8:38:12 PM                      trackback []                     




But will they cover it?

I'm sure the Dean people have been alerting the media all day to this little Dean explosion, but the question is, will they cover it?

I hope you had a chance to head over to his blog, and read through a few of the postings on the comments area. Several hours ago, they maxed out the capability of the comments system and had to start a second thread. Amazing enthusiasm over there. And they'll have raised $700k in one day on the web, in June the year before the primaries. That's pretty amazing. Especially for an effort that started at 10 in the morning, ended 12 hours later. This really is a new age of web mobilization for political candidates. Amazing no one figured out how to do it sooner.

(Or was it just that no one appealed to this audience before. McCain did, and he used it like no one can, but that was only a hint of what's happening now. And clearly, this is only the beginning.)

Love Dean or hate him, there is definitely a grassroots phenon going on here. It certainly didn't start today, but it reached a new level today. But the goofball political press? A true groundswell of support may mean nothing to them. Which is odd, really, because they have SO much time and space to fill. What the hell are they going to do with it?

But they already have their list of Important Events, and just can't be bothered. I predict it will get a paragraph here and there, and a handful of outlets will bother with a story. I hope they prove me wrong. But I don't have much faith in my own profession.


Comment                     8:26:32 PM                      trackback []                     




Over the top!

Well, they announced the breakthrough right about 10 p.m., so it probably happened at least ten or fifteen minutes earlier. They're showing $7.004 million, and I'm sure they'd love to go a little higher, but the momementum will fall off fast now, I assume.

I will be very curious to see how high it goes. I assume it will drop off pretty fast, after a bit of extra steam runs out--all those people still contributing, unaware the goal has been reached. But maybe some will also be motivated by the excitement of it. I doubt there will be TOO many in that category, as most are probably spent, but I've been surprised before. It will be interesting to see how quickly or slowly it dies down.


Comment                     8:20:13 PM                      trackback []                     




Any minute now

Well they made a liar out of me but quick.

They just posted two new sets of numbers posted, all the way to 9:30 and only $18K to go. They're actually picking up steam as we approach the goal, so they'll easily hit withint the next half hour.

At the current rate it would be about 9:48, but I have a feeling things will speed up drastically as the big moment approaches. It has probably already happened, though the tabulation is behind. I imagine they'll announce it any minute now.


Comment                     7:53:51 PM                      trackback []                     




Moving back up at 8:30

Up to $6.93 million at 8:30. The deterioration improved significantly. (Maybe it was just a really weak half hour in there).

He might hit it by 10:30, though it's really hard to predict how the bedtime falloff will affect things (and not just bed, but relaxing before bed, putting this stuff away for the night).

I guess I'll go with 10:30--everything has to be a game with some people, doesn't it--though it's also hard to know how much they're holding back on calling fat cats and when they'll make the last big push.

I'll go with that, though. More analysis here all night. (They're running about 45 minutes behind in posting the data, by the way. I was a bit late in my previous post, but this info must went up.)


Comment                     7:26:14 PM                      trackback []                     




Dean slowing down

8p.m. update:

He's slowing down, $100K to go. Down from $59/hour to $48/hour in the last hour. At that rate he'll still make it. But that rate will probably fall off as bedtime looms.

He dropped 19% in the last hour, and if that rate of decline holds hour over hour, he'll hit $7 million around 11:09 p.m.

But of course we would expect the decline to accelerate, but of course the x-factors are:

1) a last-minute push by enthusiasts eager to see him make it, and

2) staffers working the phones like crazy.

I have no doubt that #2 will put them over. I just spoke to a friend who has contributed several times, and he got two calls today. But he's also approaching the limit, so they won't be able to go back to that well in the future. But the theory is, as the support-base widens, you develop more and more wells to go back to. And then you lean on people who are tapped out to work 10-20 rich friends ...

And it's hard to bank too much on a one-hour drop anyway. Maybe that was the hour the staff all went on dinner break.


Comment                     7:01:33 PM                      trackback []                     




I forgot one thing

Hmmmmm. A friend just emailed about Wesley Clark.

That could potentially torpedo Dean, because he shoots just as straight and might develop a strong following. And he would sure put the security question to rest. Wouldn't it be great to see the R's have to go up against a general?

And I love that guy. Would love to see him president. But isn't it getting really late? What's he waiting for? Seems like it's too late already. He's got a lot of catching up to do. I guess I had written him off as not stepping in, if he hadn't by now. But he might really shake things up if he did. Maybe. I'm not sure how many Dems are as eager to embrace a general as I am. Too many hardheads over there, too, where General = fascist. That is so dumb. But that's reality. That's why I figured he'd especially have to dive in early and build a following. Who knows, though. I don't know all the tactical issues. Wouldn't it be great to have TWO great candidates, with people in love with both of them. That's probably asking a lot.


Comment                     6:53:10 PM                      trackback []                     




The spoiler strikes again--maybe

Nader told USA Today he is "seriously considering" running again in 2004. Ugh.

But we saw what damage he could do, and to do it again ...

He made his statement. Move on. Don't screw it up again.

Unless, perhaps, the choices I really awful. I voted for Nader in 2000, though I did so from a safe Shrub state. And I just couldn't bring myself to pull it for Gore. If they nominate someone that lame again, maybe, but ...

Here's his explanation, from the UT piece:

''It is quite clear that the Democrats are incapable of defending our country against the Bush marauders,'' Nader, 69, says. ''They have been unwilling to go all out to stop the destructive tax cuts for the wealthy. They have been soft on corporate crime. They have gone along in almost every issue except judicial appointments. They have cowered, surrendered or divided themselves."

If they nominate a Lieberman or Gephardt, there's definitely some justification to that. But there are several non-wimps in the field. It's way too early for that argument to hold water.


Comment                     6:45:52 PM                      trackback []                     




Looks like he'll make it

I was thinking Dean would not make his $7 million goal for the quarter, by raising $625K in 14 hours. But he seems to be on track--I think. Hard to know what will happen in the evening hours. I thought he'd fail because I thought the numbers would drop off dramatically after 5 on the east coast, when web traffic starts to plummet. But it has actually increased 20% since then.

Here's the deal:

As of 7 Eastern, he's at $6.853 million. $147K to go.

In the early afternoon, he was averaging about $55K/hour. It peaked at $60K between 1-2 p.m., then drifted downward into the 40s. That's when I figured it was over. Trending down and nearly out of working hours. But perhaps word is spreading, or momentum building as the goal appears more attainable. (Or a handful of big donors? I just realized the obvious. More on that below). In the last half hour before 5p.m., he only got $47K, and the last half hour was worse: $22K.

But it picked up again right after 5. He's averaging a steady $60K per hour now, so if he can keep that up for just 2.5 more hours, he's over the goal line.

Of course I just realized what a few big donors can do. (What's the limit, though: $1,000 still? Or did the new rules push it up to $3?) Regardless, I guess they could gather up some friends in a pinch. Surely he's got some reserve people lined up in a pinch to put him over the top at 11:59 if he needs it. You would hope they thought that far ahead.

Anyway, it is quite fun to watch. A bit like watching election returns come in on election night, which I always love, except without all the asswipe commentators, whom I generally loathe. Very cool of them to have the running tally. Obviously they've got people who get the web and know what we want.

(My analysis on why he'll win the nomination here.)


Comment                     5:38:58 PM                      trackback []                     




Prediction: In 2004, the Democrats will nominate ...

... Howard Dean.

Shit, I should have done this weeks ago. I've been telling friends for weeks that I think Dean is going to get the nomination, mostly of course provoking a "Dean who?" But I do think it's going to happen. So I'm officially putting it in writing. I'm also predicting him to beat Shrub in November, though I'm not nearly has sure about that.

I rarely predict this early. Typically I start making my first real guesses around January. But this one is going to be very different, I think. And it could all still go very wrong a hundred different ways. He could well peak 6 months too soon. He could grab the dreaded front-runner mantle one of these days, and that could cause innumerable difficulties. (Especially for such an underdog kind of campaign.)

The main reason is that I went to see him at a pretty small house-gathering in Denver in the early spring (March?) and was really taken aback by his style and presence. He's not a bullshitter. That's so rare in politics, and so incredibly refreshing. I was prepared to vote for John McCain in 2000, in spite of so many conservative portions, because I was just relieved to have someone I could believe, could trust.

I still think the R's were out of there mind to smash him last time. He would have trounced Gore, sailed to re-election landslide and yanked the party up with him. Shrub, I think is very vulnerable. Wars and insecure homeland (oh my God! I used that word) will rally the people round the flag every time, but it's only a temporary fix.

My point was, McCain was riding a wave of enthusiasm unseen in this country since John B. Anderson in 1980, who surged way too late, and was way too out of step with his party to grab the nomination from Reagan. Right man, wrong timing. McCain could have swept to victory if George hadn't already bought himself the primaries, AND if the dunderheaded Republicans couldn't open their eyes and see what they had on their hands. It was the strangest thing: they had united behind Shrub early for the sole reason that he thought he was most electable. They really wanted the White House back, so they put their differences aside long before the primaries and united behind one man (they being the powerbrokers and especially the moneymen, which is a redundant statement). And then along comes this guy setting the population on fire, and instead of saying, "Whoops. We were wrong. There's a much better guy here, who can lead us straight to the promised land," they said, "No! We already decided who the people would like, and we're not about to let anything as petty as the people change our minds about that." So they stuck with a bozo and barely scraped by, thanks to poppa bush's appointments to the supreme court.

Hennyway, to me, McCain couldn't be a clearer model. It's exactly the same enthusiasm for exactly the same reasons that are inspiring so many people to gather behind Dean.

OK, not exactly. There are huge policy differences, and in Dean's case, I think there's also a yearning for a Democratic candidate who really does feel like a Democrat, instead of a Republican-plus like Clinton. But that's the smaller portion, would be my call. It's the McCain factor really at work here. People just trust this guy, because he's not full of shit. Check him out when he comes by your town if you don't believe me.

As for the general election, the George Will's could be right: maybe he will be way too liberal. But I'm betting against that as well. First of all, he's not that liberal. He's a liberal, but not a hardcore. He was quite the fiscal conservative as governor. He seems more in line with the public on most issues than Shrub. (Remember that while shrub's numbers are still high, his positions on the most popular issues are kinda low.)

But I don't think that makes half the difference people usually expect it to anyway. The pundits are such freaking meatheads. They always try to handicap the race so sterilely. So they never see what's coming. We tend to elect candidates we fall in love with. Or, more often, when the parties and especially the press manage to marginalize and thereby squeeze out anyone we might have fallen in love with, and we're left with two unlovable dorks like bush and gore, we vote for the one who makes us retch less. But given the opportunity, we go with our hearts. 

Reagan was probably the last loverboy (with a smaller constituency falling in love with Clinton, but I think they were more in love with booting the R's out after 26 of the previous 30 years.) Don't ask me how anyone could fall in love with that dufus, but they did. He seemed way too conservative for the country at the moment, and he was, but they swept him in anyway (though the Iranian hostages certainly helped).

Gary Hart sparked a pretty good romance for a little while, but he was all hot air, so it only lasted a few weeks. (The "New Ideas" talk was so captivating until we discovered he didn't actually have any.) And Ross Perot definitely provoked a love affair, even despite his lunacy, but there's just no way to overcome the two-party system. (There, I've admitted it. Maybe I'll quit voting for third parties one of these days.) He would have spent eight years in the white house, had he just had the sense to join the republican party.

Bottom line, none of that crap you're hearing out his liberalism will make a damn bit of difference if the country falls in love with him, the way there were falling in love with McCain last time. Of course the R moneymen would probably choose to crush Dean the way they crushed McCain, because they like to be in charge, and that's how the Rs operate. The Ds don't. For better or for worse, their nomination process is a free-for-all, and if Dean doesn't shoot himself in the foot, he'll appear on the ballot next November. And probably usher Shrub right out of the oval office.

 

 


Comment                     2:57:36 PM                      trackback []                     




Howard Dean working the web. Hard.

Howard Dean claims to be making web history this week, raising unprecedented amounts of money on the web. I don't have the historical data to know how impressive this week's run is, though I do know he has had the other contenders astonished and envisious with what he's been doing on the web for awhile now.

I keep getting these emails bragging about what they've done the past few days. Half a million on Friday, which must have been related to the Moveon primary. He's shooting for 3/4 of a million today, to hit $7 mill for the quarter, which ends at midnight. He's got a blog going with a play by play every half hour on how close they're coming.

Very interesting.  I have a feeling he is rewriting the rules of how you fund a pres campaign.

 


Comment                     12:15:55 PM                      trackback []