Obama Gets Surge of Donors (it's up to more than 4 million individuals!!!)

[ClarkUSA]

Wow. Just wow.

Political Wire reports:

How is Sen. Barack Obama dramatically outspending Sen. John McCain?

First Read: "Interviewed on MSNBC, Obama strategist David Axelrod revealed that 4 million individuals have now donated to the Obama camp. That's up from 2.5 million last month, meaning -- if our math is correct -- that 1.5 million new people gave money to Obama. So how big will Obama's September fundraising haul be? It looks like it might be BIG. Will it top the 100-million mark? (1.5 million new donors at 100 a pop... Well, you get the math.)"

Yes. We. Can.

Keep up the cash flow, folks. It's working. :)

[Whalestoe]

1. O-BA-MA!!!

I want more Artists for Obama... I have them all and was hoping for one with him and Joe.

[ClarkUSA]

3. Yeah, me too. I bought the whole series so far.

And some of the stuff from designers, too. I'm going to put them all in a trunk for posterity.

[OKNancy]

2. I am a first time donor in September and again today

I donated to Obama for the first time last month and I got so pissed at
Palin today that I donated again... lol

[ClarkUSA]

4. LOL

Thanks! :yourock:

Is she still inciting violence towards Barack? I can't watch her.

[ncgrits]

7. I donated again yesterday too (but it was for that asshat realtor in

Hendersonville NC). Glad I could add another name to the rolls at Obama headquarters!
;-)

[thenam]

5. I approve of this surge, my friends

:P

[ClarkUSA]

8. Heh heh - good one.

I only wish you'd said it within of Grandpa McCain. }(

[Mortos]

6. I donate a little each chance I get

Donated $10 today bringing while watching Sarah Palin. I have donated $119 so far. I wish everyone who can would donate even $5 to help the cause.

[ClarkUSA]

9. Thank you.

And you're absolutely right. Obama used to say in his stump speech (during the primaries) that he values the $5 or $10 donation
as much as the $50 donation because he knows how much people are hurting these days and he's just grateful they support him.

[DearAbby]

19. Some asshat enrolled my name

with the gop..I get their fund raising emails, they ask for "$2,000" first, and then go down, nothing less than 50.

I recieved an email from Obama, only asking for 5 dollars or more. He knows times are hard, but turning loose 5 bucks, 10 bucks is much easier, and it adds up, especially with 4 million donors. Truly a campaign of the people.

[Coexist]

10. Fired UP! Ready to Go!

[ClarkUSA]

14. Yup! That Biden rally must've helped.

How many do you think were there? From your pics, it was a full house!

[Coexist]

15. I asked at the end (the student group that handed out the tix)

they said over 3,000.

they had an upper area blocked off - but they must've handed out more tix than they expected, because about 1/2 hour before the event began, they moved the black curtains back to open more rows.

[ClarkUSA]

17. Hey, that's pretty good... I'll bet the fire marshal thinks it's more than that.

Team Obama tends to underestimate their crowds while the GOP usually inflates their audiences by a factor of 5.

I watched a bit of the speech live... what was the biggest applause line? I heard the crowd's loud collective guffaw at Biden's
"I think we had a debate" jab at Miss Piggy. He was passionate and funny and sincere, although he could've cut down on the
"I mean this, seriously" and "I mean this, literally" verbal tics (I only say this because it was noticeable today how many times
he said the two phrases repeatedly, sometimes in the same sentence).

[Coexist]

24. when he quoted Casey, "how can you call yourself a maverick

when all this time you've been a sidekick"

that and "getting out of Iraq" brought down the house.

[ClarkUSA]

26. Oh yeah... now I recall that I heard that roar of approval, too.

I missed the "getting out of Iraq" line. Thanks for the instant verbal replay. :)

[quantass]

11. k&r

[weezie1317]

12. No, it's not 4 Million. First Read has been updated to say that the real number is....

significantly less than 4 million. They say they will release the amounts and numbers soon.

ETA the update:

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
This morning we wrote in Thoughts, that "Obama strategist David Axelrod revealed that 4 million individuals have now donated to the Obama camp. That’s up from 2.5 million last month, meaning -- if our math is correct -- that 1.5 million new people gave money to Obama. So how big will Obama’s September fundraising haul be? It looks like it might be BIG. Will it top the 100-million mark? (1.5 million new donors at 100 a pop… Well, you get the math.)"

But Axelrod "misspoke," Obama spokesman Bill Burton tells First Read. "There are not four million individual donors -- it’s significantly less than that."

Burton said he doesn't know the exact number as yet and that the campaign will put out the actual numbers "soon."

[ClarkUSA]

16. Axelrod misspoke? Hmm... that doesn't seem likely, but okay.

Thanks for the update.

[Alter Ego]

18. Why would Axelrod say this? He doesn't strike me as the type to get facts wrong...

[ClarkUSA]

20. Hmmm... that's true. Maybe the campaign didn't want the news to be released so soon?

After all, Team Obama usually keeps mum until 20th of each month.

Well, we'll find out in less than two weeks.

[Alter Ego]

21. Let's hope Burton was just trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube.

[ClarkUSA]

27. That's the most likely explanation, given Axelrod's known mental acuity.

Nice turn of phrase ya got there.

[Bigleaf]

29. Or maybe we're so close to the finish line that they want us to keep contributing as much as

possible until the very end. If one reads that they now have 4 million contributors and are rolling in $$, one might be inclined to not feel the need to contribute anymore.

[ClarkUSA]

32. Only Team Obama has never been about lying to their grassroots - it's probably media exposure timing

The campaign is making huge expenditures now, so I doubt they are rolling in the money... and remember, we're all they've got
unlike McLobbyist and Miss Piggy.

[Bigleaf]

35. Bad choice of words on my part re: rolling. Have they not been releasing their figures

around the 20th of each month? If so, seeing as though this is really the last whole month to receive contributions, they might want us supporters to keep up the contribution pace this last month to ensure we keep outspending McCain big-time in these swing-states right to the end. I don't beleive they're lying to us or mean to deceive us in any way. I really meant, as you say, media exposure timing, I guess.

[uponit7771]

13. Like whoa!!!

[Cha]

22. Team Obama made the

right decision..I don't care how many people whine about it.

[ps1074]

23. Very smart to not relese the numbers till the last moment possible

By not releasing the fund raising numbers, the Obama campaign force the republican to play "guess the numbers" game.

Republicans know how much COH Obama had last month and they also know how much Obama has spent this month. What they don't know is how much money Obama will have till the end of the campaign and they can't tweak their strategy according to these numbers.

I read somewhere last week that McCain has something like 25 or so million dollars left till election day. I am sure Obama will have a very significant advantage going to the last days of the campaign.

[ClarkUSA]

34. Right.

That may be why Burton came out -- he's covering for Axelrod so there is suspense. Obama's gamble to depend on regular folks has
paid off.

[demokatgurrl]

25. Very stupid question, please bear with me...

Do you think (or does anyone know) that the campaign actually keeps careful tally of who gives how much? So that, for example, someone like me who has probably donated 20 times, only gets counted once?

I know it 's a stupid question, just one that I wonder about.:dunce:

[ClarkUSA]

28. Yes, the campaign keeps tabs on the number of individual donations vs. an individual's donations.

They've always done that during political races dating back to pre-computer days.

And there's no such thing as a stupid question. :)

[SoonerPride]

31. The FEC filings require exacting accounting.

[WeDidIt]

33. They ahve a database with every penny you've donated accounted for

Yes, even the people who donated only $25 once.

The reason is, they must report names etc. of those who donate $250 or more and ten donations of $25 = must report the name and other information to the FEC.

[JimWis]

30. Outstanding. Appreciate the info - thanks.

[DeepModem Mom]

36. K&R

[Laelth]

37. Speaking for myself ...

I had donated earlier this year to John Edwards and to the DNC, but I hadn't donated to Obama. Last week I made a conscious decision to donate "before it's too late" because I want to be able to say I was one of the 2.5 million (or 4 million) who restored democracy in the United States and helped to limit the influence of the rich and powerful over American politics, including the Democratic Party.

It's happening before our eyes in 2008. This is revolutionary. I had to be a part of it.

:dem:

-Laelth