The Daunting Task of Raising Money

Posted by Bobby Eberle
April 1, 2008 at 6:16 am

Now that Sen. John McCain has secured the Republican presidential nomination, attention is turning to a critical subject: fundraising. The GOP nominee lags far behind both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Latest reports show McCain with $7.9 million cash on hand. In comparison, Clinton has $33.1 million, and Obama has $38.8 million. In order to win, McCain needs votes in November, but the path to building those votes requires money. The question is, "Where will the money come from?"

According to FOX News, McCain has raised $64 million during the election cycle. Clinton has raised $169 million, with Obama leading the pack at $193 million.


FOX notes some of the reasons for the fundraising gap to be McCain's "failure to capitalize on the fundraising avenues on the Internet -- Obama and Clinton are both credited with major solicitation drives on the World Wide Web. A demoralized Republican base, which is suspect of McCain's positions on immigration and campaign financing, also has not demonstrated much enthusiasm for the nominee-in-waiting."

There are a number of obstacles standing in McCain's way to raising money. FOX quotes a New York Times story on fundraising which shows that many of the major donors who helped President Bush set incredible fundraising records have been slow to come on board with McCain.

Even though he all but secured the Republican nomination by mid-February, Mr. McCain has so far managed to enlist only a fraction of the heavyweight bundlers of campaign contributions who helped drive President Bush's two runs for the White House, an examination of Mr. McCain's fund-raising network shows.

Well over half of the top fund-raisers for Mr. Bush, who raised a record $274 million for him in the 2004 primary season, stayed on the sidelines through this year's Republican nominating contests. Others wound up working for Rudolph W. Giuliani, who signed up the most top Bush fund-raisers, and Mitt Romney, who had about the same number as Mr. McCain.

The dearth of Pioneers and Rangers, the elite fund-raisers for Mr. Bush who collected more than $100,000 or $200,000 respectively for his re-election bid in 2004, is illustrative of just how far Mr. McCain has to go to build up his financial operation.

A number of factors are contributing to McCain's lack of funds. One of them is burnout. The Rangers and Pioneers for the Bush team worked incredibly hard over two election cycles to bring home the bacon for the president. The process is draining, and several big-time fundraising veterans told the Times they are simply "lacking the fire" to do it again.

Patrick Oxford, a Houston lawyer who was the chairman of Mr. Giuliani's campaign and was a Bush Pioneer in 2000, said he was unlikely to throw himself back into raising money.

"It's not because I'm not a supporter of Senator McCain," Mr. Oxford said. "I'm just worn out."

"It takes an enormous amount of passion," said Joyce Haver, a Phoenix businesswoman who was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 and a Ranger in 2004 and who said she was unlikely to plunge in again. "I probably don't have the passion I had last time."

Another problem facing McCain is the lack of enthusiasm within the conservative community for his campaign. People who just show up at the polls on Election Day are not going to be the ones contributing to a presidential campaign. Contributors tend to be those more passionate about politics and their issues. Those who are passionate about conservative principles are not passionate about McCain.

I keep saying over and over again that Sen. McCain needs to reach out to conservatives and bring them on board. This is not some "spoiled little group" that needs coddling. This is a group who has worked for years to get Republicans elected, only to see their agenda pushed to the side and replaced with big government programs, spending, corruption, restrictions on free speech, non-existent illegal immigration enforcement, and poor support for conservative judges.

I'm not sure if he just "doesn't get it" or simply doesn't care. Conservatives DO care. Over 21,000 have signed GOPUSA's Contract with Conservatives to show Sen. McCain that issues matter. The reason we have worked so hard in previous elections is so that we can advance the conservative cause.

On the day McCain gave his "New World Order" speech, he also sent a fundraising e-mail to conservatives. That was clearly not wise, and the amount of e-mail I received from angry conservatives proves it.

If the Arizona senator wants to raise money from conservatives, he needs to do something more than simply say, "I'm better than Clinton or Obama." That kind of statement may be enough to win some votes in November, but it is not enough to get people to open their wallets.

http://www.gopusa.com/theloft/?p=681