Kerry Beats Bush

[bigtree]

WASHINGTON, April 20 /U.S. Newswire/ --

In a new FEC report to be filed today, the Kerry campaign will report having collected $54.8 million in the first quarter of 2004, beating both President George Bush's totals this quarter and the previous quarterly fundraising record for a presidential candidate - incumbent and non-incumbent - by more than $2 million.

Kerry also broke the record for fundraising in one month, gathering $42.8 million in March after he secured the Democratic nomination. These record-breaking figures were amassed through the largest grassroots effort in history - a groundbreaking 355,000 contributions in the quarter.

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=178-04202004



Me Book

[skooooo]

1. Wooo HOOOO!!!

And it's only April...a long way to go. We can win this!

[Skittles]

2. outstanding

GRASSROOTS EFFORT! SWEET!

[blm]

3. Wahoo. On to victory. No rest till November.

.

[Langis]

4. Hell yea!!

:toast: to everyone who donated!

[Melodybe]

6. Keep it up ya'll I can't wait to send my $100.00

:toast:

:kick: for Kerry

[Langis]

5. This is big news! Shouldn't this be in LBN?

[IronLionZion]

7. awesome!

grass roots can win this thing. Now we need to get people to register and VOTE!

[DaveSZ]

8. As long as Kerry doesn't go too far right,

he'll still have the grass roots with him.

[dae]

9. Not to shabby for a bunch of poor dems.

[Imalittleteapot]

10. New quarter. Time to give again!

Send your quarters, dollars - whatever you can give.

[bigtree]

11. Absolutely

Let's build on this.

[Walt Starr]

12. If he's going to win, e has to keep it up

There is one way and one way only to get elected in this country:

$

[cally]

13. Great news

Average contribution was $109.

This one's astounding....

"Nearly one out of every two people called by the Kerry campaign contributed over the phone. This conversion rate is just amazing. It shows that Americans are more united then ever in wanting to win back the White House this fall."

[K-W]

14. Is this because of grassroots fundraising, or

before non-partisan elites taking a side, or people getting scared of or losing faith in Bush and hedging thier bets with bipartisan spending?

[WilliamPitt]

15. (snip)

"These record-breaking figures were amassed through the largest grassroots effort in history - a groundbreaking 355,000 contributions in the quarter."

[WilliamPitt]

16. Combine that with this

Bush, Airing Ads, Spent Record $49.6 Mln in March

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=akL6Ncop31VE&refer=us

April 20 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush spent a record $49.6 million in March, the most paid out in one month by any presidential campaign, as it spent at least $40 million on media advertisements.

Bush, 57, raised $26.3 million in March, less than the $38 million raised by Democratic rival Massachusetts Senator John Kerry that month, according to Kerry campaign and FEC filings. Bush had $86.6 million in cash at the end of March, down from $110 million at the end of February, the FEC figures show.

The Bush campaign began airing ads nationwide last month portraying the president as a strong leader and Kerry as weak on national security issues and inconsistent in his voting record. Kerry, 60, became the presumptive Democratic nominee after the March 2 primaries when his last main rival, North Carolina Senator John Edwards, dropped out.

Bush raised a record $185.7 million through the end of March after beginning fund-raising in May last year, the FEC figures show. His campaign had a goal of raising $170 million. The average contribution in March was $92, less than the $165 overall average, according to a Bush campaign press release.

...more...

The headline should read: "Bush Spent Record $49.6 Mln in March to Maintain Statistical Tie with Kerry"

Guess what, DU? Kerry is running a hell of a lot smarter campaign than many here give him credit for.