Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is expecting a significant drop-off in campaign contributions for the second quarter that might look like a pittance compared to the dollar amounts Democratic rivals Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) are expected to raise.
Though it would not be unheard of for a campaign to try and lowball its fundraising expectations, an e-mail to supporters from senior adviser Joe Trippi, of Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 campaign, tells Edwards’s fans the campaign is two-thirds of the way to its goal of $9 million for the quarter.
That would give Edwards a $6 million rake with nine days to go. And even then, the campaign would realize $5 million less than it did in the first quarter.
An Edwards campaign official said the goal for the campaign from the outset has been to raise $40 million total to compete in the first four primary or caucus states.
“We were never going to raise $25 million in the second quarter,” the aide said, alluding to the giant sums expected of Clinton and Obama. “They’re pretty much more based on their celebrity. We are based on the early four states strategy, and we need $40 million to do that.”
The dollar decrescendo is nothing new to Edwards. In 2003, Edwards was the talk of Washington after raising $7.4 million in the first quarter, which was a lot of money back then. But in the second quarter, he reported raising $4.5 million.
“This is not about out-raising our opponents in a meaningless fundraising arms race,” Trippi said in the e-mail to supporters. “This is about executing our plan — raising enough money to push our message in the critical early states and building our operation around the country.”
Meanwhile, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) told reporters after he first entered the race to wait and watch his second-quarter numbers instead of his first.
A senior adviser to his campaign said that risky strategy came through, and they expect to report more this time around than the $6.2 million they reported after March. And all of that money will be primary election donations.
An aide to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) said the senator’s campaign was expecting to raise around the same amount as the $2.1 million he raised in the first quarter, which he combined with just under $2 million from his Senate reelection funds.
Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) campaign declined to comment on its expectations. Dodd raised about $4 million in the first quarter, which he complemented with $4.7 million from his Senate reelection chest.
Candidate trips to firefighters’ memorial are ‘craven,’ says aide to Sen. Obama
An aide to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) presidential campaign said the candidates planning to attend today’s memorial service in Charleston, S.C., for nine firefighters who died this week are engaging in a “pretty craven political act.”
“I don’t think that would sit well in South Carolina,” the aide said.
The staffer qualified his criticism by adding that it would not be politically craven if the candidates had been invited. [After press time, Obama Press Secretary Bill Burton told The Hill in an e-mail, “Those comments absolutely do not reflect the sentiment of Senator Obama or his campaign.”] South Carolina native and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Joseph Biden (D-Del.) are planning to attend, and one source in Charleston said a military plane had been chartered to bring as many as 50 lawmakers to the service.
Melvin Champagne, one of the firefighters who died Monday, was a cousin of Obama South Carolina staffer Lauren Champagne, according to Obama’s campaign.
At least one Obama campaign aide will be attending the service.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) is also planning to be there.
Giuliani may find more enemies than friends at the service as many firefighters’ groups, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), have been extremely critical of Giuliani’s handling of the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
IAFF President Harold Schaitberger, one of Giuliani’s biggest critics, will also be attending.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) campaign did not respond to press inquiries, though a source said the Democratic candidate is trying to adjust her schedule to allow for the trip.
A speaking slot has been reserved for President Bush, according to a source, but a White House spokesman said the trip was not on the president’s schedule.
The firefighters’ deaths are the most in a single tragedy since the Sept. 11 attacks.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D) wife, Barbara, is also scheduled to attend.
— Sam Youngman
Spreading sunshineSen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) publicly revealed his 113 earmark requests for fiscal 2008 yesterday, which marks his second transparency initiative of the campaign, after early release of his tax returns.
Obama’s earmark requests range from the general, such as $65 million for service improvements to his state’s Metra commuter rail, to the quirky, such as $8.5 million for an Army Corps of Engineers barrier intended to keep Asian carp fish from entering the Great Lakes.
Obama is the first presidential hopeful to disclose his earmarks voluntarily, while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has yet to release an earmark list or tax returns. Yet the lack of public release is unlikely to prevent scrutiny of other candidates’ funding requests — Clinton’s $148 million in defense authorization earmark requests, first reported by The Hill, earned her a stinging rebuke from White House rival Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
— Elana Schor
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