www.washingtonpost.com
The Obama money machinePresident Obama continues to say little about his re-election plans publicly, but behind-the-scenes his senior aides are plotting a vast fundraising network designed to build on the $750 million he collected during the 2008 campaign.
On Wednesday night, Obama spoke at a reception for major donors, telling them that “when you look back at the track record of work that we’ve done over the last two years, I think that it’s fair to say the promise that we made to the American people has been kept.”Then on Thursday, Jim Messina, who is expected to serve as campaign manager for Obama’s re-election bid, met with 450 major donors and issued a directive for each person to collect $350,000 by the end of 2011. (The news of the meeting was first reported by the New York Times’ Jeff Zeleny.)
The twin events come hard on the heels of a series of visits by Messina with major donors scattered all over the country and, when taken together, suggest that the Obama money machine is quickly ramping up — 19 months before the November 2012 election.
Obama insiders have downplayed the possibility that the president will crest the $1 billion mark in fundraising for the 2012 race, but the early start coupled with the ambitious goals outlined by Messina seems to run counter to those denials.
The focus of the Obama operation in the early going appears to be primarily on large-dollar donors, utilizing the bundling system — where a wealthy individual not only donate but also encourages friends (and friends of friends) to give — put in place so successfully by George W. Bush’s campaigns in 2000 and 2004.
But, the fundraising goals outlined by Messina on Thursday are well in excess of those that the Bush campaign established. (To become a Bush “Pioneer” an individual had to raise $100,000; a Bush “Ranger” brought in $200,000.)
If the Obama large-dollar donors are able to meet the goals put forward by Messina, the campaign would wrack up at least $157 million this year alone. To put that in perspective, Obama collected $250 million in offline contributions in 2008 with many, though far from all, coming from major donors and bundlers. (The remaining $500 million was raised online.)
Money alone won’t win Obama a second term. But, as Republicans continue to mull whether to run for president in 2012, the president is putting in place a cash-collection operation that will almost certainly bring in the most money in the history of presidential campaigns.
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Ha ha ha ha - "Hope & Change" in 2008 to "Give me all your Change you have left" in 2012.
LMAO at this shit show.
