The Daily Sandwich

"We have to learn the lesson that intellectual honesty is fundamental for everything we cherish." -Sir Karl Popper

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Location: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

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Thursday, October 04, 2007

Fundraising, hyperbole, and Orwell '08

Romney's campaign couldn't be happier with the $18 they've managed to raise in the third quarter, as their site proudly proclaims:

FAST FACTS About Romney For President's Over $18 Million Third Quarter Total:

- Amount Expected To Report In Primary Contributions In The Third Quarter: $10 Million
- In The Third Quarter, Governor Romney Loaned $8.5 Million To Romney For President.
- Total Amount Raised In Primary Contributions For The Year: Approximately $45 Million
- Total Amount Of Revenue For The Year: $62 Million
- Cash On Hand: $9 Million
- Total Number Of Donors So Far This Year: More Than 100,000 (23,000 New Donors In The Third Quarter)
- Contributions Received From All 50 States And Washington, D.C.
- NO General Election Money Collected (General Funds Cannot Be Spent During The Primary Election)

Huh. So, it was actually $10 million in contributions for the quarter. And third-quarter "loans" from the candidate himself account were $8 million-- more than 10% of his total 2007 revenue. In the the second quarter, Mitt loaned himself $6.5 million. That's 20% of the total. In the first quarter, Mitt only hit Mitt up for $2.35 million. Final tally? More than 27% of the campaign's cash is coming from Romney himself. And he's loaned his own campaign more than the combined net worth of most second-tier candidates. Maybe that's common practice (for those who have the dough, anyway), but his increasing Mitt-to-Mitt loans and dipping contributions are noteworthy.

McCain continues to embarrass himself. Man, how different his political legacy would've been if he'd called it quits six years ago. In spite of his recent and extraordinarily shameless pandering to the Christianists, his third-quarter revenue was $6. Which is a serious decline. Maybe McCain's fans are trying to save him from himself.

Giuliani's campaign reports third-quarter revenue of $11 million. His campaign site is a bit less forthright about how that breaks down, but if he's loaning his own campaign money, it can't be more than half a million. So he's raising about the same amount as Romney.

Thompson wasn't mentioned in the piece, and I'm afraid to see how that particular fraud is doing.