Mid year is always a great time to find something to project, write, spin, and crow about if you’re a political candidate – because that’s when most states require active political committees to disclose to the state, and the press, who’s been giving them money and how much. While the actual act of disclosure, gathering contributions, filling out forms required by regulators is very by the book basic – what comes next is more an art than a science.
In some states, the art can begin when the forms/reports are turned in to the appropriate state regulatory agency. In most states, there’s no room for art since reports must be submitted electronically. In a few states reports can still be submitted on paper – which in years past has created an opportunity for art. Try to imagine submitting one page for each contribution you receive – so if a campaign has 7,500 contributions – it turns in a 7,500 plus page report. Now, anyone who’s dealt with the government knows that if an individual wants a copy of any report, there is usually some kind of per page fee to be paid the report if the info isn’t readily available online. So there’s one artsy option – how badly does the opposition really want to see the other sides donors.
Another artsy option is all about timing. Some campaigns like to release their good reports early – to get their own news story. Other campaigns like to release their good reports late – so they dominate all other reports. And still others like to wait to see what their opponents do. And no campaign likes to release bad reports at all.
In the Virginia Governors race Republican nominee Bob McDonnell reports having nearly $5 million cash on hand for the official start of the General Election. So far, McDonnell, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination, has raised $10.6 million just past the midway point for his campaign. A nice haul for the former state attorney general in his bid to be the first Republican governor elected in Virginia since 1997.
McDonnell’s Democrat opponent is state senator Creigh Deeds - he has a pet donkey – who won a 3-way primary in June. Deeds starts the General Election with $2.7 million cash on hand – but that’s just part of the story. The other part of the story, as spun by the Deeds campaign, is that Deeds out raised McDonnell in this last reporting period 2-1 – (according the Washington Post Deeds raised $3.4 million vs. $1.8 million for McDonnell for the most recent reporting period) showing that his campaign has gained an enormous amount of momentum. That’s a hefty amount.
The rest of that story is that of the $3.4 million raised by the Deeds campaign, $500,000 came from the AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), $500,000 came form the Democratic Governors Association, and $100,000 came from SEIU (Service Employees International Union). When you get $1,100,000 from three donors – that makes it very easy to close the gap in the money race.
Really, regardless of how either side spins it – you’ll be spared you the break down, the campaign that does the most and best with what they’ve got will be the winners come November. What stinks for both sides, are the intangibles that neither side has any control over. Something could happen in the national environment that could be felt in Virginia, that could knock either of these fundraising titans on their butts.
Finally, since spin always is a part of these stories, here are 3 Virginia news articles, about the exact same facts, presented 3 very different ways.
Washington Post:
Deeds Set For Costly Fight for Governor
Democrat Raised Twice as Much as McDonnell in June
Winchester Star:
McDonnell takes financial lead in campaign
Staunton News Leader:
Deeds outraises McDonnell
Campaign finance reports due today
UPDATE: RGA sets up Virginia PAC to support McDonnell. See the story.
