Very nervous and concerned about the BIG money differential

[featherman]

that now exists between the two campaigns due to the timing of the conventions. Kerry is now limited to the $75,000,000 Federal funds between now and November 2 (about 15 weeks...so only $5, 000, 000 per week. Bush has somewhere between 60 and 120 million to spend still over the next 6 weeks or about 10-20 million a week. Then he will have the Federal $75,000,000 to spend over the final 9 weeks or about $8.5,000,000 per week.
Getting "snookered" by the GOP on this convention timing is appalling. It will mean being outspent by Bush by at least 2-1 for the entire remainder of the campaign. Very discouraging since, this year, we could and should be competing in FAR more states than 2000 when Gore had to bail out of several close states as the money ran out. Is there some way the DNC has figured out moderate this terrible and unnecessary disadvantage they seem to have got us into?

[movonne]

1. Can't we send money to Move on and the other ones that support

Kerry???

[unfrigginreal]

2. Nah

The 527's will just have to step up their advertising, and they're funded to do it. We might also see some 'low level' campaign staffer inadvertantly break the rules on advertising, which we'll sort out after the election.

[unblock]

3. kerry's raising $$ at a faster rate than $75MM/15wks

more than $30MM/month = more than $90MM/13wks.

can he turn down the federal funds and then have around $100MM to shrub's $75MM?

[Zynx]

4. You forget how worthless ads truly are.

[featherman]

6. Except that campaign money goes to far more than ads

local offices in a wide range of areas, staff, signage, press releases, and travel to name a few.

[Zynx]

8. Ads are the vast majority of expenditures.

You also forget that we have always been outspent.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. Can Kerry opt out of the $75 Million?

[bluestateguy]

7. reply

The DNC can coordinate b/w 16-18 million with the Kerry campaign. There is also the 527 money, where Democrats have an advanatge. I think he'll be fine. And remember that the campaign will drift out of the news a bit for two weeks during the Olympics.

[mindem]

9. I saw Pat Buchanan on MSGOP yesterday.

He commented that that the repugs will be able to "bracket" the Kerry/Edwards campaign thru out the election cycle. They will run negative ads before and after every Kerry event in every state. More or less try to drown out Kerry's message with a constant barrage of negative advertising.

[featherman]

10. This is an oversimplification of course

but I can't help thinking that the main reason that the GOP has been able to achieve national elective parity with the DEMs is by consistently outspending us by 2-1. If the DEMs could ALWAYS match the GOP dollar for dollar, our natural advantage would likely translate to a permanent 60-40 advantage in presidential races and in Senate and House makeup. So I just get tired thinking "here we go again...outspent 2-1 and it's another horse race". Way too much at stake this year and with such an energized DEM base giving so generously (me, for instance), I just wish we could take better advantage of it, at least in the presidential race.

[2Design]

11. they have done it by building a base in the schools, local and

state positions. They have raised emotional issues and involved the churches....ads won't fight that. Knowledge will. The one on one of canvassers is part of it..
The huge impart of the internet is another.

And besides the rethugs in their infamous slanderous ways get themselves in trouble.

Each of us influence part of it. It is the people who must take back the house by going to vote.

That can be done by concerts for DEMS, all over the country. Ads get ignored after awile.

Polls are stupid. Most of those people don't vote.

The best way to win is get people to walk, drive, bicycle to their voting center.

[no name no slogan]

12. The Repubs have ALWAYS outspent us

Shrub spent $60mil more than Gore in 2000, and he still had to rely on his Daddy's pals on the Supreme Court to win.

Paul Wellstone got outspent 7-to-1 in his first Senate bid, and still won. Countless other congresscritters and local pols win with less money, too.

The problem is that the people who run this party seem to think that the only way to win is to become Republicans: on the issues, on the ads, on the way they run the campaign. Dems have a hard time winning like this.

When Democrats run AS DEMOCRATS (on Democratic issues, that is), and tap into the grassroots that's already out there to do the legwork, they WIN. All that's needed is some decent leadership at the top who don't take the grassroots for granted, and blow their entire wads on useless TV ads which do more harm than good much of the time.

If you want to show you're different from the Republicans, then don't act like 'em.

[leyton]

13. At some point, the money becomes irrelevant.

They may outspend us two-to-one, but there's so much money involved that I don't think it's as big a deal as it sounds. If it took 100$ million for Gore to reach the majority of Americans last time, why does Bush need 200$ million?

[featherman]

14. I guess the Gore campaign is my point

Lack of money in the home stretch caused the campaign to pull resources (ad money, staff, get out the vote drives) from key state like Ohio that were still quite competitive. This happened 3-4 weeks before the election...I got the whole sad story from some very frustrated Ohio Gore campaign workers. And it was shrinking money and the perceived need to allocate more of the remaining resources into Florida and defending our base states that determined the decision. I have no direct knowledge of other states but would not be surprised if similar pullbacks did not occur in TN, AR, MO, AZ, NV, WV, and NH... any one of which would have won the election.

[leyton]

16. Ah, good point.

I think you are probably right - the Gore campaign did need more money. Still, I get the impression that Kerry will end up with about twice as much money as Gore (275 million total, counting Federal funds?), maybe more, and I think that ought to be enough.

[Justice]

15. Not Going to Be An Issue

The DNC can spend money, and coordinate with Kerry's campaign. Kerry has a boatload of money to give the DNC this week.

[MoonRiver]

17. The DNC can run pro-Kerry ads, not just anti-bush* ones?

I admit I'm a little fuzzy about how these funding rules work.