Bob McDonnell Shows Financial Muscles

By Chase | July 15, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

While the money race is not always the deciding factor in a political campaign, it is indicative of the relative strength of a candidate against the potential field — particularly well more than a year before the election. In this regard, Attorney General Bob McDonnell is showing impressive fund raising abilities for the 2009 race for governor, which should serve him well in the general election match-up next year.

In numbers filed today, McDonnell proved to be the first statewide candidate for the 2009 cycle to surpass $1 million in cash-on-hand.

McDonnell reported nearly $1.17 million in the bank, which we all know is the most important figure — how much to you have to spend in the future. This early in the contest, this is great news for McDonnell, as everyone knows that a clear ability to raise money shows great strength, and therefore an even greater ability to raise money in the future.

By contrast, the two feuding Democrats are trailing substantially right out of the starting gate, with Brian Moran coming in about $250K behind McDonnell, and Creigh Deeds more than half-a-million back.

There are also dark clouds sorrounding Moran’s silver lining, as $400,000 of his fund raising figure represents a transfer from another account, so he is essentially double-counting that. That is not actually money raised for his gubernatorial campaign. Further, his donors are watching him burn through money like a first-round draft pick buying sports cars. I don’t know how much of a sports fan the gentleman from Massachusetts is, but I can tell him that I have seen more than a few young bonus babies blow their entire wads and end up broke.

While McDonnell can run a lean operation and continue to bank money for a good long time right now, his two potential Democrat rivals are girding for a fight with each other. In the end, it is entirely likely that the eventual Democrat nominee will emerge into the general election, blinking against the bright light of the main stage, with blood running down his cheek and an empty wallet in his pocket.

All in all, I’d rather be in Bob McDonnell’s position.

Comments

6 Responses to “Bob McDonnell Shows Financial Muscles”

Big Money in Big Contests « Shenandoah County GOP on July 15th, 2008 11:49 pm

[...] Delegate Brian Moran by nearly a quarter million and Senator Creigh Deeds by a half million. Bearing Drift has more, and points out that Moran is counting a transfer of over $400,000 from his Delegate account, [...]
Bobby May on July 16th, 2008 12:36 am

I’m not surprised that AG Bob McDonnell is demonstrating such tremendous financial strength so early in the race. Considering the great job that he has done as AG combined with the lack of stature of his Democrat opponents, its not surprise that he his making such great progress in the race.

Republicans have 2/3rds of a winning ticket already in place a year before nominations for Governor & Lt. Gov. will take place. This is a tremendous benefit that will be very hard for an unknown like Moran or a loser like Deeds to overcome. I expect the McDonnell-Bolling team to rack up a resounding victory in ‘09.
Bobby May on July 16th, 2008 12:38 am

CORRECTED COMMENT:
I’m not surprised that AG Bob McDonnell is demonstrating such tremendous financial strength so early in the race. Considering the great job that he has done as AG combined with the lack of stature of his Democrat opponents, its not surprising that he is making such great progress so early in the race.

Republicans have 2/3rds of a winning ticket already in place a year before nominations for Governor & Lt. Gov. will take place. This is a tremendous benefit, one that will be very hard for an unknown like Moran or a loser like Deeds to overcome. I expect the McDonnell-Bolling team to rack up a resounding victory in ‘09.
Blogging for Bob on July 16th, 2008 10:18 am

This is great! This is really a showing of what the unified GOP can do, because McDonnell has only been the presumed nominee for the past 3 months, so imagine how this will only improve moving forward.
NoVa YR on July 16th, 2008 10:21 am

This should not be surprising at all. After the first 2009 Public Policy Polling poll that came out a couple of weeks ago showing the AG up by 6% and 5% respectively against his Democrat opponents, of course Bob McDonnell will have tons of support.

http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/PPP_Release_Virginia_618.pdf

Putting aside it is early as can be to grasp the overall numbers, all you have to do is look deeper into the microdata within the poll numbers to see saw eyepopping stuff. First, notice that the AG was only 4% behind Moran and Deeds with the African-American vote. Clearly, McDonnell is is not your traditional Republican. McDonnell actually led Deeds among Hispanics in this same poll. Dumbfounded? Yes, I am sure the Democrats were, but to those who know, support and follow Bob McDonnell’s successes and challenges, his humanitarian side is everpresent. I was not surprised at all by these numbers. You need not look any further than the AG’s record with his 2nd Annual Legal Food Frenzy collecting enough food for 1 million meals, assisting inner city youth in Richmond and cracking down on gangs and counterfeiters in NoVa and polluters in the Valley. McDonnell will truly be a Govenor for all Virginians.
2010 on July 16th, 2008 10:23 am

This is great news for AG McDonnell. His team understands that setting priorities and keeping expenses low right now is the best way to show strength. Kudos to their team for a great report!