tonight’s the night

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Tonight is the donation deadline for the first quarter of 2012 – if you can, please donate any amount at all to Obama/Biden 2012

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Collegekay is doing great:

Link

Let’s help Obama/Biden 2012 – and win Collegekay a call from the President.

Donate here, if you can.

Thanks everyone.

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First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters Malia and Sasha attend Nickelodeon’s 25th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles

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If the thoughts of First Lady Ann Romney terrifies you, donate here

rise and shine

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Will catch up in a while.

Morning everyone 😉

‘obama’s donor base: still robust’

Don’t know if you remember a piece in the New York Times last month by Nicholas Confessore titled ‘Small Donors Are Slow to Return to the Obama Fold’:

“They were once among President Obama’s most loyal supporters and a potent symbol of his political brand: voters of moderate means who dug deep for the candidate and his message of hope and change, sending him $10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months. But in recent months, the frustration and disillusionment that have dragged down Mr. Obama’s approval ratings have crept into the ranks of his vaunted small-donor army, underscoring the challenges he faces as he seeks to rekindle grass-roots enthusiasm for his re-election bid.”

After yesterday’s third quarter figures it’ll be, eh, interesting to see if Confessore does a follow-up piece.

As Adam Sorensen (Time) put it: ” ….. The precise breakdown for the third quarter won’t be available for another few days, but there’s enough out there to tell us that the small-dollar donors have not, in fact, been “Slow to Return to the Obama Fold.” According to the Obama campaign, some 600,000 people gave to the cause during this last reporting period at an average of $56 per donation. In the prior quarter, there were around 550,000 donors giving an average of $69. When the campaign filed with FEC, that worked out to be $22 million given in increments of $200 or less, almost half of the total haul.

Some context is in order. Consider this: Mitt Romney, the GOP’s fundraising juggernaut, claimed just 6% of his second-quarter intake from small-dollar donors. And during his groundswell campaign in 2007, then Senator Obama made headlines by drawing a little less than a third of his $33 million second-quarter haul from donations less than $200. Now Obama’s up around 50%.”

(Thanks Loriah)

catching up

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Friend –

Remember that deadline we kept emailing you about a couple weeks ago? Here’s what you should know about what we’ll report to the FEC tomorrow:

– In the third fundraising quarter of this year, 606,027 people donated to this campaign – even more than gave in the record-breaking previous quarter.

– Those people gave more than 766,000 total donations – 98 percent of them $250 or less, at an average amount of $56. That’s more than twice as many donations than we had at this point in the historic 2008 campaign.

– Together, Obama for America and the DNC raised more than $70 million. And it all happened during a summer when the President was focused on doing the job he was elected to do – a summer when we had to cancel a series of fundraising events and ask everyone to dig a little deeper.

If I could sum up this last quarter in a few words: Supporters like you came through.

Here’s even bigger news: Right now, 982,967 people have donated to this campaign. We’re within striking distance of 1 million donors.

…. Thanks for all you did to get us here. I’m excited for what’s ahead, and I hope you’ll take part in the push to 1 million grassroots donors today.

Match someone’s pledge, double your impact, and become part of the first million today:

Donate here

Thanks,

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

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President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak shake hands during their joint news conference in the East Room at the White House

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NYT Editorial: It was all predicted, but the unanimous decision by Senate Republicans on Tuesday to filibuster and thus kill President Obama’s jobs bill was still a breathtaking act of economic vandalism. There are 14 million people out of work, wages are falling, poverty is rising, and a second recession may be blowing in, but not a single Republican would even allow debate on a sound plan to cut middle-class taxes and increase public-works spending.

…. The Republicans offer no actual economic plans, only tired slogans about cutting regulations and spending, and ending health care reform…. Their lack of serious ideas was on full display in both the Senate and the presidential debate on Tuesday night in New Hampshire. The debate was ostensibly about the economy, but when the freshest and most-talked-about idea is Herman Cain’s ridiculous “9-9-9” tax plan, it is clear that the economy they were debating is not the one Americans are forced to live in…..

The other candidates were no less vacuous. Mitt Romney offered an ash heap of used ideas … Rick Perry, when he could be stirred to speak, vowed to somehow put 1.2 million people to work in the energy industry, as if the whole country were Texas and drills could pop up on every block.

Republican candidates fear the Tea Party too much to acknowledge that economists are solidly behind government intervention to awaken growth …. But at least the record is increasingly clear who is advocating real ideas and who is selling an empty vessel.

Full editorial here

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First Lady Michelle Obama and South Korea’s First Lady Kim Yoon-Ok arrive to watch a musical performance during a visit to Annandale High School

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Greg Sargent: The public really likes the Obama jobs policies that the GOP blocked: The internals of the NBC/WSJ poll are now up online. Check out this bit:

The jobs bill would cut the payroll tax rate, fund new road construction, continue to extend unemployment benefits, and give tax credits to companies who hire and train long-term unemployed workers. The plan would be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy and increasing taxes on businesses by closing some corporate tax loopholes. Do you favor or oppose this plan?

Favor 63

Oppose 32

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morning ;-)

The Obama campaign announced in an email this morning that the president’s reelection effort and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $70 million in the third quarter of the year:

— In the third fundraising quarter of this year, 606,027 people donated to this campaign — even more than gave in the record-breaking previous quarter.

— Those people gave more than 766,000 total donations – 98 percent of them $250 or less, at an average amount of $56. That’s more than twice as many donations than we had at this point in the historic 2008 campaign.

— We are focused on building infrastructure that will help us win in 2012. And each quarter we set a combined goal for the campaign and our allies at the Democratic National Committee. We far exceeded our goal of $55 million this quarter between the two organizations. Great work.

— Together, Obama for America and the DNC raised more than $70 million. And it all happened during a summer when the President was focused on doing the job he was elected to do — a summer when we had to cancel a series of fundraising events and ask everyone to dig a little deeper.

The Obama campaign raised $42.8 million on its own and the DNC took in $27.3 million, an Obama campaign official said.

The announcement follows an $86 million second quarter for Obama and the DNC, and sets up the president to outraise by far the whole GOP field, combined, in back to back fundraising periods.

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(Video takes 10 seconds to start! Thanks Tally)

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Today:

9:0 President Obama, Vice President Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama welcome South Korean President Lee and First Lady Kim to the White House

11:0 The First Lady invites the Republic of Korea’s First Lady Kim Yoon-ok to Annandale High School in Virginia

11:05 The President holds a bilateral meeting with President Lee and official U.S. and South Korean delegations

12:20 The President holds a joint press conference with President Lee

7:0 The President and First Lady welcome South Korean President Lee and First Lady Kim to the White House for a state dinner

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“i don’t miss my shots in the fourth quarter”

(Thanks ChristiMtl)

ABC: If his campaign for a second term is like a basketball game, President Obama says it’s nearing halftime, he’s down on the scoreboard, and facing a full court press.

Obama told a crowd of campaign donors, including a mix of past and present NBA stars, in Florida tonight that “this is like the second quarter, maybe the third. And we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

“But I want everyone to know I’m a fourth-quarter player,” he said. “I don’t miss my shots in the fourth quarter.”

Obama spoke at the glitzy Lake Mary, Fla., home of attorney John Morgan, one of his top volunteer fundraisers, or bundlers, where around 100 guests paid at least $1,500 to see the president speak. Proceeds flowed to the Obama Victory Fund, a joint account between the Obama Campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

NBA all-star Grant Hill, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard and Phoenix Suns guard Vince Carter were among the pro basketball players in attendance, according to press pool reports.  The official invitation for the event also listed ex-NBA great Patrick Ewing as a co-host.

“So as long as we’ve got a strong team and everybody’s engaged and involved, we’re not just going to win this election,” Obama said. “We are going to win this election and then we are going to make sure that we rebuild this country.”

Full article here

Thank you Loriah