Monday, May 26, 2008
Convention fundraising still lagging
WE’VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com
With the nomination battle still going on, fundraising for the Democratic Convention in Denver is going slower than planned:
The Denver host committee for the Democratic National Convention is behind on raising the money it needs to transform the Mile High City into the focal point of American politics for four days in late August, just three months away.
The host committee needs to raise $40.6 million by June 16. It fell $5 million short on its most recent deadline, March 17, by which point the host committee promised to raise $28 million, according to its contract with the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC).
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Members of the Denver host committee concede the lack of clarity in the Democratic field has been a factor in their fundraising struggles, but only one of many.“You’ve also got to look at the economy, you’ve got to look at [the fact that] Denver’s got seven Fortune 500 companies. That’s one-third the number Minneapolis has,” Denver Mayor John W. Hickenlooper told CQ Politics.
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“Other host cities had a candidate to work with to rally around. We don’t. But I can’t say that that’s hurt us or not, it’s just a fact of the cycle that we’re in,” said Chris Lopez, a spokesman for the Denver host committee.
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Lopez said the Denver host committee was ahead of where the Boston host committee was at the same point for the 2004 convention and that they felt confident they would meet their fundraising obligations.“There’s not panic. It’ll come. We’re moving the needle, we’re trending ahead of where Boston was and we feel really good about that. . . . We expect here at the finish line that we definitely will hit the numbers,” he said. – CQPolitics
See here for past DCW stories on convention money issues.
Posted by Matt at 10:10 PM 
I am not surprised. This lifelong Democrat has rebuffed all DNC fundraising efforts this election cycle imploring them to end Hillary Clinton’s hope for disaster. If all the superdelegates would just take a stand one way or the other, this would be over. I will keep my money until they do their jobs. I imagine others feel the same.
that’s how we feel. I’d like to donate, like to see this end with the support of one nominee, and until then, I’ll wait patiently to donate. I continue to feel like the supers are afraid of something/someone, some sort of retaliation at stake.
I don’t follow campaign finance laws at all, but would it be either purposeful or legal for Obama to donate leftover cash to help fundraising?
I have received letters from the DNC to donate and I have advised that I will – as soon as I know that Clinton is out, that Obama is in, and that my hard-earned money will not go to pay off Clinton’s debt.
I know that I am one of many who feel the same way. If the DNC wants to raise money for the convention, the party should get off its duff and get solidly, and publicly, behind Obama.
This is great to hear Dems. My husband and/or I might get to see Gov. Bredeson of TN this week and this sounds like something he should consider. If we don’t we’ll still be emailing.