Above is a letter sent from the RNC treasurer to a Republican and fundamentalist activist in Indiana. The text version is after the jump.

The letter reads like it's begging Kristen to come back to into the party's arms.

Notice how quickly Tim Morgan asks if Kristen's "given up." It's the first thing that comes to his mind, apparently, and then he accuses her of deserting the party. I knew the GOP base was depressed, but I didn't know that it was actually sad.

As a sign of Democratic enthusiasm in the MO-09 district Judy Baker was the #1 U.S. House candidate in the nation and the #3 overall candidate (behind Senate candidates Noriega and Hagan) on ActBlue this past week. Two MO-09 candidates actually made the ActBlue top 10 as one of her three Democratic primary opponents (Gaw) also finished #9 in the ActBlue top ten.

http://campaignnewswire.blogspot.com...

Judy Baker introduced herself to Daily Kos on July 16th here:

http://www.dailykos.com/...

Let's put the 'F' back in Fundraising!

Reiterating My OPPOSITION to Tolling I-80 as PA Turnpike Commission Reveals Plans to Spend I-80 Toll Money:

This week the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission released details of their plans to repair Interstate 80 using the funds generated from tolls paid by users of the highway.  It was stated by the Turnpike Commission and their consultants that "An assessment of the interstate showed that more than half its length has not been repaved since it was built some 40 years ago".  In press accounts, Barry J. Schoch, identified as Project Manager, also detailed plans to build a "cashless open road tolling system" that will utilize the EZ Pass system to collect a portion of the tolls.  Mr. Schoch also described how vehicles not equipped with EZ Pass will have their tolls collected saying "a driver without E-ZPass will have his or her license plate photographed, generating a mailed-out bill for the vehicle owner".  He also stated that this non EZ Pass system "is not currently used on any U.S. highway."

Apparently, John McCain and his campaign team still don't know how to use "the Google". Even if they failed to watch or read the news, "a google" could have shown them all the things wrong with their latest fundraising email:

The Obama Democrats are counting on their wealthy special interest groups, Big Labor Unions and unregulated "527" groups like MoveOn.org to fill their campaign coffers and try to bury our GOP get-out-the-vote efforts in an avalanche of special interest cash.

I guess being Republicans, little things like facts can't get in the way:

1. MoveOn closed its 527 operation last month.
2. The Obama campaign and the DNC do not accept money from PACs or federal lobbyists.

$680 Raised!!!

Gabe's $5 Obama Fundraiser Link

My son Gabe (Gabro) just turned 2 years old on Friday. In the last two years, his mother and I have been blessed with the fact that he has been healthy, playful, social, and loving. For those who have had the chance to spend even a small amount of time with him, I think they can agree that those are just a few of his overall characteristics. We are also blessed to know that he loves NPR in the car, has his own "Daddy's lil Democrat" tshirt, has had "Lefty" the beanie baby donkey in his crib/bed since he was born, and understands the necessity to severely limit Fox News in the household he tends to spit up when watching it) :)

We've discussed the June numbers, but (via Eric Kleefeld at TPM), we note Politico's story:

Obama roars with $25M one-day haul

After locking up his party’s presidential nomination, Barack Obama’s fundraising operation came roaring back to life in June, generating more than a million dollars on five days, including a whopping $25 million that came in on the last day of the month.

His one-day haul represents nearly half of his monthly total and more than Republican rival John McCain generated for the entire month. During the month, McCain did not have a single day in which he raised a million dollars.

Overall, Obama raised $54 million for his campaign in June, compared to $22 million for McCain.

All the oxygen is getting sucked up by the overseas trip, but let's not lose sight of the democratizing effect of $68 donations (media reporters, you are so wrong on this. This is what public financing really looks like.) When it mixes with more traditional sources, you get a whole lot of cash.

Gee, I wonder why he opted out of public campaign financing? See, the point isn't whether McCain will be funded. Republican corporate money has no where else to go, and no one wants to waste it on Congress. The point is that Obama will have enough money to not be overwhelmed by GOP corporate dollars, and run the campaign he wants on even terms. That's unheard of.

Nice change, that.

Update [2008-7-21 10:35:2 by DemFromCT]: The commenters note that bundling small donations (under $200) and reporting on the last day make for a big spash. Musikal203 also has a diary and some nice pics on the topic.

So the FISA debacle did have an impact, but at the end of the month a lot of people basically bombed the campaign.

After locking up his party’s presidential nomination, Barack Obama’s fundraising operation came roaring back to life in June, generating more than a million dollars on five days, including a whopping $25 million that came in on the last day of the month.

His one-day haul represents nearly half of his monthly total and more than Republican rival John McCain generated for the entire month. During the month, McCain did not have a single day in which he raised a million dollars.

Jump

The actual monthly filings are finally up at FEC.gov, and guess what?  Obama's total receipts weren't 52 million, they were 54.2 million.  Total expenditures were 25.7 mil, so cash on hand is (get ready for this) ~71.7 MILLION.

By contrast, John McCain had total receipts of 22.2 million, and total disbursements of 27 million.  His Cash on Hand is 26.8 million.

Of course, McCain has to spend all of his before the convention is over, and will get ~84 million in federal funds after that.  And then there's the RNC and DNC.  More below...

This is from the FEC website up to the end of the second quarter (June 30). A lot of Democrats are doing very well in fundraising.  

The first figure posted is the total as of June 30, the second figure  posted in brackets is as of March 31, the third figure is December 31.  I posted both so you can see how well they did in the quarter. If no previous number has been posted it's because the candidtate hadn't entered at that date.

I've broken the candidates down into a few categories, they are strictly my opinion.  This is just House candidates, not U.S Senate candidates.

$665 Raised!!!

Gabe's $5 Obama Fundraiser Link

My son Gabe (Gabro) just turned 2 years old on Friday. In the last two years, his mother and I have been blessed with the fact that he has been healthy, playful, social, and loving. For those who have had the chance to spend even a small amount of time with him, I think they can agree that those are just a few of his overall characteristics. We are also blessed to know that he loves NPR in the car, has his own "Daddy's lil Democrat" tshirt, has had "Lefty" the beanie baby donkey in his crib/bed since he was born, and understands the necessity to severely limit Fox News in the household he tends to spit up when watching it) :)

As many are aware Senator Obama raised $52 million in June.  While that is the number being used in the media and in some of the diaries/stories on this site, actually the most important number to watch is Senator Obama's cash on hand.  Why you may ask, I well explain below.

Last weekend, some of Seattle's eastside Democrats gathered and ran a booth at Redmond's annual Derby Days festival. We raised funds, recruited volunteers, registered voters -- and did our best to convince the eastsiders to vote for our great local Democratic Party candidates. For fun and fundraising, we had a button making project where people could make custom buttons from photographs. We also had an art station for the kiddies who wanted to color their own Obama buttons. It was a success, too. There are a lot of great new Obama buttons wandering around the eastside this week!

In addition to the local races, Washington's 45th and 48th Legislative Districts are home to two tough races that will have national impact: the race for Washington State Governor and the race for Washington's 8th Congressional District. These two districts intersect Washington's 8th CD -- where Darcy Burner is battling Dave Reichert for his seat in the House. Our race between Governor Chris Gregoire and challenger Dino Rossi is also a nailbiter.

What is unique about these races? Both contests are rematches.  

With increasing frequency John McCain is sending me requests for contributions (a consequence of an insurance-policy donation made to McCain in 2000).  Today the request included a crisp and well ironed $1 bill, presumably McCain's effort to motivate guilt giving along the lines of return address labels sent by a host of charities, from Amnesty International to the SPCA.  I pocketed the $1 bill and would like to share the pitch dated July 14.  McCain's stated goal for July is to raise $25 million.

"I want you to know that I don't take sending you this $1 bill lightly.  I understand there is a chance that you will not send the $1 bill back to me. But I'm willing to take that risk, because after all we've been through together in this historic campaign, I believe I can count on you.  Today I need you to send this $1 bill back to me along with $1,000 or $750 of your own to help our campaign take the next crucial steps in this pivotal presidential election........ The scope of Senator Obama's initial media buys sends a clear signal that he will be investing money in states no Democrat has won in years ... If we meet our financial goal of raising $25 million this month, we will stay right on track to have the funding we need to continue to implement our campaign plan and win."

$635 Raised!!!

Gabe's 2nd Birthday Obama Fundraiser Link

My son Gabe (Gabro) is 2 years old today. In the last two years, his mother and I have been blessed with the fact that he has been healthy, playful, social, and loving. For those who have had the chance to spend even a small amount of time with him, I think they can agree that those are just a few of his overall characteristics. We are also blessed to know that he loves NPR in the car, has his own "Daddy's lil Democrat" tshirt, has had "Lefty" the beanie baby donkey in his crib/bed since he was born, and understands the necessity to severely limit Fox News in the household he tends to spit up when watching it) :)

McCain's flip-flopping has become so consistent it's impossible to figure out any central message. There might be a reason for this -  

Sometimes it pays to look between the lines. The bloggers at the L.A. Times found a few entertaining facts:

Unlike last year, McCain is working hard to raise money now, and his schedulers fill in the blanks with interviews and other events to attract free media coverage wherever they happen to be.

Overall, John McCain has missed 387 votes (62.6%! missed and only showing up 37.4% of the time) during the current session of Congress (the worst record in this 110th Congress).  John McCain hasn't cast a single vote since April 8, 2008 (during a time when he was sitting pretty as presumptive nominee and Hillary and Obama were still duking it out).  

Now, I know running for President is a full-time job:  To give him a reliable comparison, I compared his activities on days since April 8 when he missed votes but Obama cast one or more votes.  (Showing up for the majority of the votes 56.3% in the 110th Congress, Obama has cast almost 20% more votes than McCain in the 110th -- a truly amazing accomplishment when you consider the length and ardor of the Democratic primary.)

So what was McCain doing on those days since April 8 when Obama showed up to vote and he didn't? See below the fold:

there are those moments in life when inspiration hits you... squarely between the eyes and threatens to break your glasses.

i received an e-mail today from my dad.  born, raised and returned some years ago to southeast alabama.  81 years old and very white.

oh, yeah... you know where this is leading, right?

follow me for the "a-ha" moment... and no, i promise not to link you to any a-ha videos...