Is the extended Democratic primary going to hurt the Democratic candidate in the general election in fund raising?

[AndrewR]

What I mean, are the Democratic donors going to be "tapped out" after this extended primary race? I saw previously how pundits predicted that the extended primary would help the Republican party by bringing out negative information about the eventual winner of the Dem primary, which has been evident already, but I haven't seen any discussion about the money issue. Is the cap on campaign donations separate for the primary and the general election?

But, more generally, is all the money that's being spent by Hillary and Obama going to be missed in the general election, especially when you consider that McCain and the Republicans are essentially taking a back seat right now and saving their pennies? Or, is there enough capacity that it won't make a difference?

It certainly seems to me that the bad blood which is being generated between Obama and Hillary will cause some fracture within the Democratic electorate, at least if you believe the polls. I suspect that the same fracture will translate into slightly fewer dollars for the eventual candidate at the very least.

What's the consensus?

P.S. Keep the partisan garbage out of the thread. There's enough to go around already. We need more intelligent discussions in this group.

 

[ElFenix]

in terms of official limits, at the moment no one is subject to any other than the total for individual contributions (a few thousand dollars per person). i think those limits remain in place for the whole of this election cycle. so, it could very well be that many of the larger donors have reached their official limit.

it could also be that smaller donors won't be able to afford to pony up more come fall, even if they haven't reached the official limit. that'll be interesting to see.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
in terms of official limits, at the moment no one is subject to any other than the total for individual contributions (a few thousand dollars per person). i think those limits remain in place for the whole of this election cycle. so, it could very well be that many of the larger donors have reached their official limit.

it could also be that smaller donors won't be able to afford to pony up more come fall, even if they haven't reached the official limit. that'll be interesting to see.

My guess is that the "interest campaigners" or whatever they call them (Swift Boat crowd) will gain even more prominence if the campaign limits are a problem. I need to do some periodical searches to see if I can find anything on the issue.

 

[Moonbeam]

Yes, when Obama wins the primary he won't be able to raise another dime. The millions millions and millions are going to dry up over night and hope will be dead.

 

[Fern]

I think that the primary campaign has it's own donor limit, and the general has a second limit. So after the primary closes donors start over with the new gen election limit. But are the donors tapped out regardless of the "extra" set of limitations? IDK, but I doubt it.

Obama has 1.4 million people donating to his (primary) campaign, after he wins he'll likely pick up some of Hillary's donors. I don't see him having ANY campaign funding problems.

If the Dem primary is over by July like Dean wants, I think the Dems will come together. If it goes to the convention and the super D's pick Hillary, all bets are off.

Fern

 

[senseamp]

I have a feeling the idiot right will figure out a way to unite the Democrats.

 

[Lemon law]

McCain has a little funding problem of his own. Back in the bad ole days when McCain campaign was broke he was collecting public financing. And now that he is the GOP nominee apparent, he wants to play by a different set of rules. The dems have already filed a lawsuit.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Lemon law
McCain has a little funding problem of his own. Back in the bad ole days when McCain campaign was broke he was collecting public financing. And now that he is the GOP nominee apparent, he wants to play by a different set of rules. The dems have already filed a lawsuit.

Nope. He never collected any money from public financing.

It a technical legal issue involving a conditional guarantee clause in a bank loan.

Fern