Some have emailed me that they are offended by the latest remark to come out of Hillary camp. They feel the statement above references “the little people”. Not sure if I agree with that, but I do see it underscores a shift in Hillary’s fundraising strategy.
It’s no secret that Hillary’s pre-Super Tuesday donors are maxed out. 70% of them have donated the maximum of amount allowable per campaign. For Obama supporters, only 3% of them have donated the maximum amount.
This is because Obama has a larger amount of donors (650,000 pre-Super Tuesday) who donate smaller amounts, and hence have the ability to give repeat donations.
Now, strapped for cash and seeing the success of Obama’s fund-raising, it seems she has decided imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Her call for $3 million dollars in 72 hours suspiciously came on the same day (although hours after) a similar fundraiser showed up on Obama’s website and was emailed out from supporters called “48 Hour Fundraiser”.
Of course, Hillary is intelligent to look for new donations online. Such donations have raised millions for both Barack Obama and Ron Paul.
Her request for cash sent out to her mailing list, coupled with a release from her camp to the press that she had to loan money from her own pocket and have her staff work without pay also stimulated donations. (Some suspect that was the goal all along, especially since she later claimed that her staff did not actually go without pay.)
Now a bundler for Hillary’s campaign in California, Susie Tompkins Buell, said she remains optimistic, even though many donors she has contacted have given the maximum allowed. “The campaign has gone on much longer than any of us expected,” Buell said. “I think now we are in the position of looking for the little checks. We’re trying to find out how best to do that.” The Clinton campaign reported attracting 40,000 new online donors yesterday.
- What do you think?
