Hey Mass. folks -- does Kos need to be corrected here?

[beachmom]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/11/125944/467

One reason I am blissfully unwilling to pick sides in the presidential race is that I want the candidates to prove that they can help build their local Democratic Parties and deliver Democratic victories beyond their own. I want to see a real coattail effect in action -- critical as we look to the long-term rebuilding of the national Democratic Party.

Several of our 2008 hopefuls have an opportunity to prove their mettle on this category:

snip

Update: People ask in the comments, "where is candidate X?" Well, the other candidates don't seem to have as many opportunities to prove their coattails. There are no competitive races in Delaware, so Biden is out. Same with Kerry and Massachussets. Dodd threw in with Lieberman and we saw how well that turned out for him. Clark doesn't have a home base of support. It's not like he's a political institution in Arkansas. I forgot about the open seat in WI-08, so that might be Feingold's place to show some coattails. Daschle could help pass the reversal of his state's draconian abortion ban.

As for Gore, he's not running. If he starts considering a bid, I'll adapt accordingly.



I thought the governor's race in Mass. IS competitive, and I thought Tay had mentioned how things were changing in Mass. and Kerry is getting involved in grassroots, and so forth.

If Kos is wrong here, you might want to set him straight with a post. Thanks.

[whometense]

1. I'll let Tay speak for herself,

as she's most involved in the governor race.

Kerry and Kennedy have stayed out of the primary, but Kerry has let it be known forcefully that he will move heaven and earth to get the democratic candidate elected in November.

I'm sure Tay is more informed than I am as to what his activities have been toward that end, but so far it's been quiet. I assume that will change completely after tomorrow.

[TayTay]

6. It will change after the primary next week

which, stupidly, is held way too late in Sept. (sigh!)

I believe there is 'no love lost' between my Senators (Sr and taller) and Mitt Romney. I personally believe that Sen. Kennedy tolerates Romney better than Sen. Kerry does, but that is subjective.

(On second thought, no it isn't. I have seen these two together at events in-state. Ahm, I would pay good money to see a no-holds barred set-to between Mittens and Big Jawn. My money would be on Kerry in a TKO in the 5th round.)

The real Gov's race begins on Sept 20th in Mass. This is a grudge match for oh-so-many reasons. In one corner we will have Kerry Healey, so afraid of being tagged a Republican that she refused to even acknowledge Darth Cheney's recent defilement of Massachuestts soil in landing his lardy arse here for a fundraiser last week. (Oh boo hiss. Now we have to have to place fumigated.)

In the other corner, the forces of truth, light, goodness (ahm, not kicking puppies, which you know Cheney does for fun in that undisclosed location) and Democratic ideals will ahm, engage with the forces of deception, corruption, and general all around ickiness. (Dear Lord, please help us not to f*ck this up. Thank you.)

[TayTay]

2. Kos is only talking about federal races

in Congressional districts, not about gubernatorial races. In the weird confines of what he is talking about (which is inherently unfair, btw) he is right. Massachusetts already sends all Democrats to Washington DC to represent us. (We can't send more than that. You only get 100%)

[wisteria]

3. Unfair indeed. But it is Kos. He plays old time politics. Many voters

are smarter than he thinks.

[rox63]

4. The Governor's race definitely IS competitive

Dems are really hungry to take back the corner office in the State House. But the Congressional and Senate races are kind of a snooze this year.

But if/when Kerry runs for the White House again in 2008, all sorts of chaos will break out here. Half of the MA Congressional delegation has been chomping at the bit for years waiting for a Senate seat to open up (last one being 24 years earlier, when Kerry was first elected), so they'll all jump into the fray. Then all their House seats will be up for grabs. Things will get very interesting indeed.

[TayTay]

7. And Rox, some of those running can't be Senator

Cuz, they don't look like a Senator. (OMG, you know I actually said that to someone and couldn't believe it. I am so shallow. Ahm, do you think there is any chance that cloning program could be up and running sometime soon? I would miss .... ah geez.)

[beachmom]

5. Another question, this time about Edwards

Many of his supporters are saying he has raised $7 million for candidates across the country -- the only person who has done more is HC. That doesn't sound right -- I thought Kerry raised more money than anyone else, but has that changed?

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/9/11/125944/467/95#c95

Please respond if the poster has it wrong. Thanks.

[TayTay]

8. Sen. Kerry has raised about $14 million

RAhm Emmanuel said he wished he had a lot more John KErry's, cuz then we would be all set with the fund-raising.

[wisteria]

9. Actually, the last i saw Kerry lead the pack, Hillary was hording her

money and Edwards was nowhere. I'll have to do some research on this. I just know Kerry has been out in front on this. I don't like upstarts stealing his thunder.

[Firespirit]

11. Hillary and Edwards

Hillary has a massive war chest for herself.

Edwards counts it as raising money if he attends an event for someone.

JK has raised a boatload of money, over $10 million as of a month ago. Surely more by now. I don't have precise figures, but it's substantial. He is a frickin' powerhouse.

[Firespirit]

10. Kerry's figures

Kerry's PAC, Keeping America's Promise, has raised over $10 million for candidates this election cycle.

[beachmom]

12. Can you guys give me a link?

I provided one link from May with the figure $7.5 million, but sounds like that is out of date.

[Firespirit]

13. I checked out that dKos thread

That philgoblue person is a regular on the forums and blogs at Edwards' website. I suspect he may be officially with the organization. He never misses an opportunity to promote the guy, and what he says about Edwards' fundraising being "entirely new" is utter BS. That is why he counts $7 million in raised funds; he considers it raising money if he shows up and money changes hands. It's not new and it's not unique. They all do it.

As for my figures... I don't know about a link. They're from within the organization. I'll see if I can find anything on the internet, though.

[beachmom]

14. Please fact check my comment (I don't want to be wrong here)

Kerry has raised over $10 million (0 / 0)
He does not count appearing with a candidate and raising money in that total. I can't find a link at the moment (but will provide one when I do), but Kerry is way in front, even ahead of Hillary who is keeping her war chest to herself. She even goes to other states to raise money for herself, whereas good Democrats like Edwards and Kerry are sticking with '06, not '08.

Great that Edwards is doing so much, but your original post is incorrect. Kerry has given more money to candidates than any other Democrat. Period.

by beachmom on Mon Sep 11, 2006 at 11:18:26 AM PDT

< Parent | Reply to This >

[Democrafty]

15. I blogged about it when Hotline reported the figures:

http://www.welovejohnkerry.com/2006/07/09/cash-and-well-you-know-the-rest/

[Firespirit]

19. Hey, thanks!

Links are good for this kind of thing!

[beachmom]

21. I used your link, Democrafty

Actually, things stayed civil, I complimented Edwards, and the guy conceded that Kerry has given more to other candidates.

[Democrafty]

27. Thanks!

I don't have a DKos account (yet!) or I would have had your back.

Sounds like it all worked out, though :)

[TayTay]

16. Congress Daily 7/27/2006

The 2004 Democratic ticket of Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina remains politically active. In the first six months of 2006, Kerry raised $2.2 million through Keeping America's Promise and gave out nearly $1.1 million. Edwards raised $667,000 but made no contributions from his One America Committee.

Among other Democrats, Sens. Evan Bayh of Indiana raised $1.3 million through his All America PAC, while Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin collected $957,000 through his Progressive Patriots Fund. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware raised $533,000 through his Unite Our States PAC.

Hey, they had another wedding for KerryStaff this past weekend. (You learn the darnest things when searching for something else.)

Melissa Anne Boasberg, a daughter of Sarah Szold Boasberg and Emanuel Boasberg III of Washington, is to be married there today to Eric Michael Schvimmer, the son of Francine Eichler of Fairfax, Va., and Joseph Schvimmer of Pikesville, Md. The bride's brother, James E. Boasberg, an associate judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, is to officiate at Dumbarton House, the house museum in Georgetown.

The bride, 37, will keep her name. She works in Washington as the head of direct marketing at Keeping America's Promise, Senator John Kerry's political action committee. She graduated summa cum laude from Yale and received an M.B.A. from Stanford. -- NYTimes 9/10/06

Ahm, I have a high school diploma and a laptop. I'm good to go.

[karynnj]

20. The discrpancy is probably that the $14 million in hotline

likely includes the money that is raised by Kerry's email that oes directly to the candidate. So the number here would be only if you don't pick a candidate and select the PAC. (Can we call this new - just like Edwards does? )

Kerry appeared for free at Faneuil Hall.

[Firespirit]

23. Why not

If philgoblue can call it "entirely new" for Edwards to host events for candidates, then sending out emails on their behalf is definitely new.

As for the discrepancy--beats me. I don't actually work in finance. I rather suspect that the $14 million includes the "attended events" in which JK showed up and was a crowd and press draw, and perhaps brought some cash. I haven't counted those figures in the numbers I've given out here. One thing for sure, though, is that the e-mail totals are definitely included in the figure.

On edit: I say use the $14 million. Edwards' henchmen on dKos are certainly including every conceivable type of fundraiser, including Edwards' "attended events." What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[karynnj]

24. Not to mention , even if Philgoblue were correct

and Edwards was the biggest money raiser, Edwards still couldn't have written any of these Faneuil Hall speeches if his life depended on it.

[Firespirit]

17. That's correct

I checked on this, and I'm not sure if I can get a link after all. The thing is, Kerry sends out mailings urging people to donate to X candidate. The money raised from these e-mails goes directly to the candidate's campaign, not to Kerry's PAC, so it won't show up on the FEC reports for KAP, but it is still money raised for the candidate by Kerry. This is a significant figure. Additionally, there are the events that are hosted by KAP that raise money, and the direct contributions. There are also events that are not hosted by KAP but that JK attends, and these aren't included in the $10mil.

If the money is going directly into the candidate's campaign coffers, that's how it will appear on the FEC reports and therefore on places like Open Secrets and FECinfo. I'm pretty sure that unless the PAC or the candidate chooses to report it on the Internet, there is no way to determine who "raised the money" if it enters the person's campaign directly, as happens with the e-mails and the hosted events.

[TayTay]

18. One common sense way to check is to see who gets invited

to appear at fundraisers, especially in the early primary states in '08. Ahm, they really, really, really want you if you are popular and can be a draw and can, ahm, raise money for them.

Who is key-noting that Jefferson-Jackson dinner in NH in Oct again?

[Firespirit]

22. Oh, that's true

It requires a lot of backtracking, though, to date the events and then look back at who was there.

People like all the facts in one place. Even in the age of Google. ;)

[wisteria]

26. I am just not fast enough with the fingers. Thanks to all who found the

information. I was having a difficult time and only found one link I didn't have to resister for. I am not even sure how they are coming about these numbers on the site.


http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.asp?strID=C00409508&Cycle=2006

[beachmom]

25. Thanks guys for all of your help!

I would say that thread was a success, as I "won" the debate with good back up for my arguments, but kept things reasonably friendly. I'm just not in the mood for fighting right now, and would rather come out humbly with the facts. Unlike the Republicans, MOST Democrats are usually stopped in their tracks with documented facts.

Anyway -- I thought it was a good hijack of a useless Kos thread, that got out there that Kerry raised $14 million for Dems, more than double anyone else.