Thursday, January 7, 2010

Battling Tom Barrett Ain't Playing

Tom Barrett proudly announced that he was able to raise $750,000 in just the first 47 days that he has been campaigning. That, my friends, is nothing to sneeze at, and in my humble estimation, is just the first warning volley to the eventual Republican candidate.

Not only does it show Barrett's commitment to winning the governor's race, it shows that the people of Wisconsin don't want to let Scott Walker do to the state what he did to Milwaukee County and they don't want any more of the Bushonomics that led the country down the fiscal toilet.

This surge in money brings Barrett's war chest up to $1.5 million dollars. And as Xoff points out, Barrett won't need to spend his on a primary like the Republican candidates will have to.

JSOnline is reporting that neither of the two major Republican candidates have reported their numbers yet, but Team Walker is desperate in trying to spin something positive for themselves:
The two Republicans in the race - Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann - have not yet said how much they have raised, though Walker's campaign said it received more than 10,000 donations over six months. As of last July, Walker had $1.1 million in his campaign account.
However, it was Team Walker that also bragged during his money bomb (the one he held the same day he joked about laying off 180 county workers, and admitted it was just a political ploy) that most of the money he got was under $50:

Since Scott Walker’s announcement of candidacy in April, the campaign has garnered tremendous grassroots support. Walker has the endorsement of over 75 percent of elected Republicans in the State Legislature and received over 93% of the straw poll vote at the 2009 Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention. Ten recent training sessions across the state saw over 800 attendees.

In the last fundraising period Scott Walker raised an impressive $1.1 million. Of that number, $236,000 came from online contributions. 75% of Scott Walker’s $1.1 million in contribution were for $50 or less, and half of all contributions came from new donors.

Now, if one presumes that he followed the same patter throughout, and also presuming that 75% gave $50, while the other 25% gave 100 (which was about the average in his last campaign financial report) that only comes to $625,000. That's over $100,000 less than Barrett over a time period four times as long. But even if Walker drew more special interest money from Chicago and Ohio, and was able to eke past Barrett's total, it would still have taken him four times longer to do so.

If Neumann stands his ground and waits for the primary to pick up into full campaign mode, Walker is going to be lucky to make it all the way to the primary, and not have to drop out like he did in the last election cycle.

8 comments:

  1. Since Barrett is the only Dem running, of course he is going to get a bunch of money. If you, capper, were the only Dem running, you could easily raise $750,000. Hell, you may even get a few bucks from Sykes for the material you have given him.

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  2. I'm pretty sure everything Dan said is wrong.

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  3. The question is: where did Barrett's money COME from?

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  4. Daddio,

    When will you ask that money question of Walker?

    Jim-

    I'd like to think I could raise maybe a buck two eighty if I ever were to run. But not from Sykes, but from anyone that doesn't like Sykes, and those numbers are legion.

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  5. Accepting money shows commitment and determination on behalf of Tom Barrett? Yea, Obama doesn't lie either.

    Pretty sad system when money buys your vote.

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  6. Exactly! That is precisely why Walker must be kept out of Madison!

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  7. What are your thoughts of Barrett asking to use city resources for "protection" while doing political activity?

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  8. I was at Barrett's holiday event/fund raiser. The only cop in sight was the one outside directing traffic. (With all those people, it was crazy trying to find a parking place within a half-mile, so I think a traffic cop was appropriate).

    Now, shall we talk about Walker using county staff and vehicles to attend political rallies?

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