We all know that polls are an OK indicator of where people stand on issues, etc. But they’re not the best means to determine popularity, etc. Perhaps the best is to whom people are donating money, which candidate has the most donors and which candidate has raised the most money. That candidate, far and away, is Barack Obama. In the second quarter he raised almost $33 million from more than 258,000 individual donors. Now the word “individual” in that last sentence is pretty important because Obama is the only candidate who DOES NOT take PAC money. His money is from people, not a group of people pooling their donations and hoping or demanding Obama does something for them in return if elected. Hillary takes TONS of PAC money and will be in their hip pockets if elected. Edwards takes PAC money too, but it appears that he’s taken far, far less than the others. Why is that? Why can’t Edwards, who has better name recognition than Obama, draw more money?

This raises a good point...if we really want to get away from the media “horserace” mentality, we should stop placing such emphasis on polls. Right now they are only polling “likely voters” which is only people who have voted in the last 3 elections consecutively. How easy is it to answer a poll question...really easy. It doesn’t mean you’ll actually vote for that person when the time comes, or even that you’ll vote. However, looking at fundraising as an indication of how well a candidate is doing makes a lot of sense...donating money is much more clear indication that you’ll vote for that person, especially when we are seeing lots of smaller donations.

I think that the most important thing to focus on with regards to the fundraising numbers thus far in the Presidential race is not necessarily the $$$ brought in but the number of people who donate.  If you donate to a candidate you are going to vote for that person.  We all know Obama’s numbers - over 258,000 donors in the first six months of the year.  I have yet to hear the totals released from the other campaigns… wonder why???

The next important thing to focus on is the average donation.  The average donor to the Obama campaign has given $209 - that gives them $2,091 to go before they are maxed out.  This is good news because Obama can keep going to these people and continue to raise money at a really nice pace.  The other candidates - particularly Hillary - are maxing out their donors straight away and have to go looking for new ones.

It is very important for people to look at information like this about the candidates.  The way the Obama is raising money is just plain smart and very impressive.  I, myself, would like someone who is smart and impressive in the White House.