Dean's DNC on track for new fundraising records this quarter.

madfloridian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Sun Apr-01-07 12:05 AM
Original message

Dean's DNC on track for new fundraising records this quarter.

Seems some of the major donors are becoming more comfortable with his plans now.

The DNC is on track to haul in roughly $14 million this quarter, approximately $3.8 million of which comes from major donors, who are defined as donors who gave more than $5,000 as an individual or from a PAC, the DNC says. That's a significant jump from the first quarter of 2003 -- the last comparable year -- when the DNC raised only $2.23 million from major donors, according to the DNC's numbers.

(And wasn't 2003 before the changes in the amounts big donors could give?)

DNC bringing in big money more than before.

Yes, Dean is being helped by the White House's awful political travails. Nonetheless, it's still significant, because it suggests that Dean has had far more success than many expected in winning over the party's major contributors, who were initially so skeptical of Dean's gloves-off, grass-roots approach that they privately were threatening to clamp shut their wallets.

Top Democratic donor Robert Zimmerman describes the jump in money from the big contributors as "very significant."

"The major donors initially were skeptical of Dean and his 50-state strategy," Zimmerman says. "Dean had to prove the merits and logic of his strategies. But the success of his 50-state strategy certainly has impressed the establishment donor community. Unlike in 2004, when there was an overreliance on 527s that undermined the idea of a strong party structure, the support Dean is receiving from major donors shows a growing recognition among them that a strong DNC is an essential tool for victory in 2008."

Times do change.

And a couple of nice statements in the comments section:

"Too many people fail to understand that the real Howard Dean is the sober governor of the early to mid nineties, not the ranting caricature that the media and the right wing have tried to convince people that he is. It's no surprise that he has the Democratic Party on a glide path to permanent majority status, although Bush's cluelessness has definitely aided the process."

..."It's funny how his record in Vermont was never raised by his opponents. His campaign competitors in '04, the DNC/DLC establishment and the Right Wing Noise Machine all glommed on to, and propagated, the notion of latte-sipping Volvo driving peaceniks. Nothing could be farther from the reality of what Dr.Dean did during his years in Montpelier. Just ask the working class folks who live in the state. Heck, one of my former produce delivery drivers was on a first name basis with the guy. Because I knew the real Dean, I understood exactly what he meant when he started talking about guys with gun racks and rebel flags, but only because they already made up a significant chunk of his VT consitituency. He connected with them in ways that neither Bush nor Kerry could. I still think he would have made a great President."

...."I have long been a supporter of Gov. Dean and I'm very happy to see that his 50 state strategy has been recognized and validated. We even see evidence of his footprint here in the red state of Alabama. Now we just have to get rid of the odious, and embarrassing, Jeff Sessions, but we're working on that!"

I commend him for doing a tough job well.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1210