Le Stampa, Italy

The Primaries: A Challenge to the Last Dollar

Candidates ready for four weeks of fundraising before facing the vote in 22 states

By Maurizio Molinari 

January 11, 2007

Italy – La Stampa - Original Article (Italian)

Money, money, money: this is the word – bipartisan like no other – that will guide the electoral campaigns of the Republican and Democratic candidates through the next four weeks.  Objective – to survive with full treasure chests after February 5, when on ‘Super Tuesday’ 22 states will hold their primary votes.  In the next four weeks the strategy of direct interaction with the candidates will be put aside, replaced instead by an advertising campaign in which radio ads and TV spots will be the cards to play in important states like California, New York, New Jersey and Illinois.  But it will be a pricey card: it will cost tens of millions of dollars to advertise effectively in some of the most expensive television markets in the country.  Among the first candidates to position themselves for a prepared arrival at that crucial point is Barack Obama.

Already feeling strong after a victory in Iowa – a victory that landed him 8 million dollars in only 5 days – the Senator from Illinois threw a new challenge to his supporters (with a quick deadline): “Something unexpected happened the day after New Hampshire: more than 20,000 people made an online donation, our best total ever,” writes Obama in an appeal sent by email to his supporters; “Now we want to reach an almost unimaginable goal: 100,000 before the Nevada Caucuses on January 19th.”  At this point almost 89,000 have answered the call online, confirming that the internet has become one of the successful weapons of this electoral campaign.  Hillary Clinton, always prominent among Democrats, celebrates the millions of dollars she collected in the 24 hours after her unexpected victory in New Hampshire, money that helps to refill her campaign chests strained by the Iowa contest, which cost over 25 million dollars. 

The Republican candidates instead waver between the strategy of saving their money like Rudy Giuliani – who is putting all his hopes into the Florida contest on January 24th – and the strategies of Mike Huckabee and John McCain who both, battling a chronic lack of funds, hope to gain a monetary advantage after receiving good results in the contests held on January 3rd and January 8th, respectively.  And now there is the probable entrance of Michael Bloomberg on the campaign scene, which promises to inflame the money race even more: the Mayor of New York City is prepared to invest at least a billion dollars into his campaign. 

ORIGINAL ITALIAN TEXT HERE