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    February 01, 2008

    Managing money: Clinton vs. Obama

    Posted by: Andoni

    Having given to almost each of the Democratic candidates over this past year, I am qualified to offer an opinion as to how the candidates handle their fundraising. According to the New York Times, Barack Obama raised an eye-popping $32 million in January alone -- a record for the primaries.

    The Times goes on to say:

    "When you get $32 million in one month, it is not because you have bundlers working,” said Orin Kramer, a New York financier and Obama fund-raiser. “It is because you have an avalanche of small donors operating online. It’s a revolution. People like me don’t achieve those kinds of numbers.”

    I can personally testify to the effectiveness of Obama's methods. When I gave to Hillary Clinton, it was because a friend who is an LGBT sub-bundler asked me to. He was part of the team for an official bundler whose job it was to raise $100,000. My friend only had to raise $10,000. When each of them reaches their goal, they get a special title, which I guess comes in handy later when jobs and favors are being handed out. As a result there is competition among the bundlers, and their main goal in is getting credit for achieving their assignment.

    I gave my donation to Clinton via credit card. I waited and waited. I waited so long, I actually forgot about it. Finally one month and several days later, the charge went through. I know this because I download my transactions daily into Quicken. I’ll called my friend to comment on this inefficiency, saying, “I’m sure even Hillary Clinton needs the money, why did it take so long?” When he got back to me, the answer was that up and down the bundler chain, people were more concerned about meeting their quota and giving her their targeted amount all at once, than getting the money to Hillary immediately. The bundlers waited until the money was all together to look good when they turned in their results.

    Contrast this to when I gave to Obama or Edwards or Kucinich: the credit card info was used immediately. The campaign got the money right away, and there was no bundler trying to impress the candidate with how much they could raise.

    Now I ask you, which model is more efficient? Which model is “old school?” and which model is more 21st Century? Which model is more about “me” the fundraiser and which model is more about the movement and the team?

    In this one very specialized area, the Obama campaign has shown that they can turn the page to operate in "the future," whereas the Clinton campaign is stuck still using the methods of the past?

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