Yesterday was the deadline to report fundraising totals from the third quarter (July, August, and September). Before yesterday, only two candidates — Dean and Clark — were publicly reporting their Q3 totals because both did well. Now, however, there was no way to hide the tallies.
There are two numbers to consider. First is the amount that the candidates raised in Q3:
Dean — $14.8 million
Kerry — $4 million
Gephardt — $3.8 million
Lieberman — $3.6 million
Clark — $3.5 million
Edwards — $2.6 million
Kucinich — $1.7 million
Graham — $1.4 million
Braun — $125,000
Sharpton — $121,000
While these totals are important, Q3 was the first quarter in which candidates were actually spending a lot of money — on staff, advertising, field offices, etc. With this in mind, it’s also important to consider “cash on hand,” the total amount of money the candidates have in the bank.
Dean — $12.4 million
Kerry — $7.8 million
Gephardt — $5.9 million
Edwards — $4.8 million
Lieberman — $4.1 million
Clark — $3.4 million
Kucinich — $800,000
Graham — $800,000
Braun — $30,000
Sharpton — $24,000
Obviously, Dean has proven himself as a remarkable fundraiser. He not only outdistanced his rivals in Q2 and Q3, he’s taken a commanding lead in cash on hand.
Clark, however, has to be scaring the heck out of his rivals. After just a few weeks of campaigning, he’s demonstrated that he has a legitimate base of strong financial support and the ability to raise a lot of money quickly.
Edwards and Lieberman appear to be in the most trouble. Both have been campaigning diligently for nine months, and have begun spending freely, but have little to show for their efforts. They’re looking at a reality in which they have weak poll support in key states and are struggling to raise needed funds in a competitive environment.
And before I go, I thought I’d add a touch of bad news for perspective by mentioning Bush’s Q3 totals. The president raised almost $50 million over the three months (four times Dean’s record-setting quarter) and Bush-Cheney ’04 now has about $70 million on hand (more than all of the money the Dem candidates have combined).