Former Graham staffers join Clark Campaign

[Dob Bole]

Four of Bob Grahams' staff members have joined the Clark campaign. These may be some of the same ones who left the Edwards camp earlier.

http://www.clark04.com/press/release/017/

[TakebackAmerica]

1. Good news.

This will help the dove general.

[pruner]

4. LOL

these guys/gals obviously did a wonderful job with Graham.

unfortunately for Clark, he doesn't have much to choose from having entered the race so late.

[WillyBrandt]

5. Pity Clark

"unfortunately for Clark, he doesn't have much to choose from having entered the race so late."

Poor Clark, he's going to have to make do with great poll numbers, lots of money, and some serious support among the poor, and among African-Americans.

How will he cope?

[pruner]

6. the only great polls #s are national & he doesn't have lots of money

he's getting trounced in the early primary states

$3.5 million is nothing compared to the $20 million + that Kerry has raised and $25 million + Dean has raised,

got a link to support your assertion regarding serious support among the poor & African Americans?

[WillyBrandt]

7. Yes, I do have numbers.

$3.5 mill in his first two 2 weeks? MeetUp numbers getting very close to 1/4 of Dean's (and climbing ever upward).

But to the numbers, which are by their nature not definitive since it's early, there's a MOE, and since so many have not made up their mind. But they are indicative of something, I believe:

http://www.gallup.com/poll/releases/pr031010.asp

Among Black Americans, Clark is at 15 percent, with Dean at 7 percent.

Among those making $20k or less per year, Clark is at 26 percent while Dean is at 5 percent. (Any explanations for that? I'm sure it's just the digital divide. . .)

In fact, Clark outpolls Dean is every income bracket except for--get this--those making more than $75k a year.

Dean looks like he can turn us into the party of rich white people--and I thought that was the Republican Party!

[pruner]

8. the $3.5 million includes an unknown amount that was pledged…

during the previous 6 months.

and during that two week time period when Clark "raised" $3.5 million, Dean raised more than $5.1 million (in 10 days)

the MeetUp margin has remained pretty steady since Clark entered the race.

thanks for posting that poll… I hadn't seen it.

while Clark's popularity among the poor and African Americans is impressive, it doesn't mean anything if he can't translate it into primary victories.

[WillyBrandt]

9. The pledged amount counts just fine

There's no reason why it shouldn't.

The meetup margin has been going Clark's way, also. Wait until the boost that comes from the first meetup.

[pruner]

12. MeetUp #s have not been going Clark's way

they have been, for the most part, neutral.

if Clark has been gaining at all, it's an insigificant amount, and if the rate continues, it'll take him til the 2008 election to catch up.

what I meant about the pledged amount is that the Clark campaign is unsure at this time how much of the approximately $2 million that was pledged has translated into actual donations. all they've said is that 2/3 of the $3.5 million was raised online.

[Kahuna]

15. Meetup, smeetup. Big deal. Just a bunch of yuppies..

and kiddie-poos with nothing better to do sitting around in a circle jerk. BTW, my circle jerk is tomorrow. :D Please name one election that has been won on the strength of meetups. What's that you say? None? I thought so.

[WillyBrandt]

16. Kahuna, we're up to 38,000

And growing. And we've got stronger support among blacks, among the poor, and growing support among the Establishment. The Meetups help allow us to unite the party--the grassroots, the activists, the establishment, minorities, and the low-income.

We've got to win on as many fronts as we can. The Deanies will pooh-pooh our Meetup numbers the higher they get. Don't worry: we'll win this.

[pruner]

19. you only need to add 85,000 people before Dean adds another person…

good luck.

[WillyBrandt]

27. An extra 1,200

since we last spoke. Keep looking in that rear-view mirror, Dr. Dean: We're moving out!

[Kahuna]

20. Blacks will flock to Clark once they become more familiar

with him. Dean is too yuppie for black folks in general. I guess that's why Dean does best in the over 75,000 income range.

[jburton]

23. A pledge is a pledge

That's why it shouldn't.

People "pledge" to organizations all the time. Those organizations know that nothing is definate until the check clears.

[WillyBrandt]

10. We must care about the poor

"while Clark's popularity among the poor and African Americans is impressive, it doesn't mean anything if he can't translate it into primary victories."

Fair enough, but I am deeply suspicious of any candidate who cannot raise wide support among blacks and among the poor.

A Democratic candidate must be able to forge deep support among these groups. Otherwise we debase our values, and we ruin our chances of winning elections.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

17. I Keep Seeing This "Previous Six Months" Nonsense

The fact of the matter is, DWC was only soliciting pledges for a few months prior to Clark's entry, IIRC, and moreover 90% of it was raised in the final month prior to entry. The pledges amounted to a bit less than $2 MM and not all of them were collected in the two weeks prior to the deadline.

$3.5 MM in two weeks is simply phenomenal. That figure also does not include the raftloads of cash the General raised in Hollywood in the beginning of October. He also has some of the best fundraisers in the country working for him.

Clark will NOT have a problem with cash. But I'll be sure to pass along your sincere concerns to him, pruner. ;-)

Oh, and about this...

while Clark's popularity among the poor and African Americans is impressive, it doesn't mean anything if he can't translate it into primary victories.

:wtf:

Isn't this party supposed to be the party of the poor and oppressed?

DTH

[pruner]

18. if $3.5 million in 2 weeks is phenomenal…

what word would you use to describe $5.1 million in 10 days?

my point regarding the poor and AA support is that it doesn't matter who supports him if he doesn't get the nomination, and you only get the nomination by winning primaries.

is Clark leading in any of the early primary states? I didn't think so.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

21. I've Always Given Dean Props for His Fundraising

I would hope you could put aside your bias to give the same props to a new candidate like Clark who raises so much money so quickly.

As for IA and NH, all Clark has to do is finish better-than-expected, and he'll do just fine. IA and NH are all about an expectations game. It's now getting to the point where Dean MUST win both IA and NH (and NH by a lot), or else he will be viewed as performing poorly. This is what history has shown us about these states.

I'm not sweating it, in any event. But again, I'll be sure to pass along your concerns to the Clark campaign. ;-)

DTH

[janekat]

26. Holy cow!! The affluent really like Dean!!!

very surprising!

[Kahuna]

14. LOL!

::evilgrin:

[janekat]

25. Wha?? He's got the top people in the business - most of the Gore/

Clinton people.

[Julien Sorel]

11. The worst thing is, these guys will be of no use to him.

It would be great if Clark could pick up some former staffers from a popular politician in a big state, say, like Bob Graham, and a state like, say, well, Florida.

[Kahuna]

13. You leave my general alone.

:P

[DemDogs]

2. Not Mudcat

The guy who had been with Edwards PAC and then was with Graham was named Mudcat. He's the NASCAR dads guy.

[catforclark2004]

3. I welcome Graham's people

Graham is a stand up type of guy. He says what he means, and means what he said. He cracked me up on Larry king, when said, "It is my judgement that I cannot be elected as President of the United States"...and just kept looking straight ahead. The Daily Show had fun with that one.

But nevertheless, we really need Graham in the Senate.

[RandomUser]

22. I agree

Graham was a good guy, and I was sorry to see him go. I'm glad some of his people have seen fit to grace us with their expertise. This is how primary campaigns evolve -- as one candidate drops, his supporters coalesce around another, until there is only one candidate left at the end. The fact that they've joined us means they've decided Clark has the same appeal for them that Graham had. That's a wonderful compliment, and bodes well for Clark. We're lucky to have such good people who supported a decent guy like Graham, and we should welcome them with open arms.

I really do hope Graham runs for re-election. His voice and insight is much needed in politics today.

[RandomUser]

24. Do we know

what's happened to the rest of Graham's staffers besides these four?