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General Election Fundraising Landscape

With the general election campaign about to begin in full force, presumptive nominees Barack Obama (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), as well as their respective parties, are gearing up for a highly-competitive campaign. As reported in the Washington Post, each candidate seeks to expand the electoral map and use his appeal to independent voters to compete in states that would otherwise not be competitive.

Both candidates acknowledge that fundraising will play a critical role determining their success in the fall, and by all accounts, the candidates will set records bringing in funds for their campaign war chests. Senator McCain raised a record $21.5 million in May, the largest one-month total over the course of his campaign. Not to be outdone, Senator Obama raised about $31 million in April (the campaign hasn't yet released its May fundraising numbers), and had nearly $37.3 million cash on hand.

The spike in fundraising has its downsides for each candidate, however. For McCain, fundraising involves occasional events with the incredibly unpopular President Bush; one recent McCain fundraiser featuring the President was closed to the media likely for this very reason. For Obama, whose ability to raise tens of millions of dollars over the internet through largely small donations allowed him to set up campaign operations in all fifty states, the general election campaign brings the risk of breaking a previous pledge to accept public financing, should he decide to keep tapping these donors as most pundits expect him to. On the other hand, the presumptive Democratic nominee has started to exert his authority as nominee over the Democratic National Committee by refusing to accept contributions from registered lobbyists or Political Action Committees.

Adding to the complexity of the fundraising landscape is each party's effort to raise tens of millions of dollars for the national party conventions in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul this fall. Unlike the candidates, who have foregone accepting soft money, the conventions are raking it in, according to the New York Times. How will the candidates' and the parties' fundraising efforts play out? Is the ever-increasing presence of campaign spending a good thing? Post in the comments section below.

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Full post as published by The Law and Politics Blog on June 08, 2008 (boomark / email).