The American Spectator : The Spectacle Blog : Hewitt's Fuzzy Math

Text Size

Hewitt's Fuzzy Math

By Philip Klein on 7.5.07 @ 10:05AM

Hugh Hewitt writes:

The top three Dems raised a total of $69 million, and the top 3 GOPers $49 million (but these numbers exclude any money Thompson raised, and lumps in general and primary totals.) Cast a skeptical eye on any story suggesting these numbers represent a huger momentum shift for the Dems, at least until the fine print is in. When Thompson's primary raise is added to the primary raise of Romney/Giuliani/McCain, the GOP total primary campaign haul could very well be the same between the parties.

So, according to Hewitt, the GOP could achieve parity with the Democrats because the top four Republican candidates may end up raising as much as the top three Democratic candidates. Even if you don't count Bill Richardson's $7 million, and if you do count the $6.5 million Romney donated to his own campaign (as Hewitt did), it would mean that Thompson would have had to raise over $20 million in a single month to make up the money gap.

Do yourself a favor, and cast a skeptical eye on anything Hugh Hewitt writes. By any measure, Democrats clobbered the Republicans in fundraising, and this is a problem. When George W. Bush was raising record-breaking amounts of money in 1999, it was a reflection of not just his political skills, but Clinton fatigue--and hunger for control of the executive branch--on the right. Now, Democrats are the ones who have been out of power, they're desperate to take control of the White House, and are energized. They'll be perfectly happy rallying around whoever the nominee is. On the Republican side, however, you still have a lot of disgruntled conservatives who are fed up with Republicans and un-excited about the current crop of candidates. It's early. Perhaps Fred Thompson will change things. Perhaps Republicans will take out their checkbooks for the general election when facing the prospect of a President Clinton or President Obama. But it's something to be concerned about.

topics:
Books