One of the underlying assumptions entering the fall campaign has been that Obama and the Democrats would have tons of money, and McCain and the GOP might not. But now, that bears watching.
It is, apparently, no coincidence that Obama and Hillary Clinton have been fundraising this week. The Washington Post reports that Obama's small-donor Internet machine has slowed dramatically as the excitement of the primary campaign has settled down, and suddenly the mutual backscratching of the Clinton-Obama big-donor networks has become critical:
"The fundraising machine Sen. Barack Obama is relying on to overwhelm Sen. John McCain this fall has shown signs of wear in recent weeks, as Internet contributions have slowed and efforts to recruit top donors to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign have been beset by lingering tensions."
McCain released June figures yesterday -- $22 million, his best month ever. Also, the RNC is flush, and the DNC is not, so the combined GOP cash on hand total of $95 million is expected to be pretty competitive, as is the projected budget of $400 million.
Obama did not release figures yet, but the WSJ reports things aren't going so well:
"People close to the fund-raising operation say the total will likely be just over $30 million. While this isn't a poor showing, it is an underwhelming haul for a campaign that has ballooned in recent months, has promised a true, 50-state electioneering effort and has told its biggest fund-raisers that it wants to collect $300 million in general-election cash by mid-October."
Also, he hopes to raise $300 million for himself, $180 million for the DNC. From a fundraiser:
"Given the ambitious budget, this person said that a healthy June number would have been much closer to $50 million. 'Think about it; you basically have 4½ months to raise $300 million,' the person said. 'Every poor month puts you further into the hole. It's like Hillary and the delegate race -- sooner or later the math just catches up with you.' "