FUNDRAISING NUMBERS IN PERSPECTIVE. A little non-Obama-centric context for the campaign fundraising numbers as they begin to come in: The previous record for the first quarter of the year before the election was Al Gore's $8.8 million in the first quarter of 1999. Bill Bradley raised about $4.4 million that quarter (which was big news at the time.) So, Dems raised a total of about $13 million from 51,000 contributors, under contribution limits of $1,000. In 2003, the first quarter was when Edwards broke out, but eight candidates between them raised about $25 million. By this time, contribution limits had been raised to $2,100. The past quarter, with the top contribution only slightly higher -- $2,300 - the top three Dems have raised $65 million. Add Dodd, Biden, Richardson, who together raised more than Gore and Bradley together, and you are very close to $80 million, or more than six times the amount raised when the previous individual record was set. And this is not "the donor class." Gore and Bradley had 51,000 contributors between them; we know that Clinton and Obama have 160,000 donors between them; assume another 80,000 among the other four (proportionate to their dollars), and you have roughly a quintupling of the number of people willing to donate early to a Democratic presidential campaign. New money and new people -- this is not your father's Democratic Party!
--Mark Schmitt
