With campaign fundraising reports (rather than the press releases on the reports) being released shortly, brace yourself for some of the least informed, least useful pundit analysis of the entire campaign.
Rather than use the filings to to see which corporate and wealthy interests the candidates are indebted to (and discern potential conflicts and loyalties they might have if elected), we all know that most reporters will view these reports only as sports scores designed to show who’s “ahead” or “behind.”
And because the press uses these reports to indicate “momentum” and ascribe "credibility" to candidacies, the campaigns therefore play all sorts of games to manipulate their numbers, and mislead the media and the public about them.
To help wade through the misinformation, what follows are some humble tips (from a reformed campaign aide who has seen the ugly side of this process) of what to really look for as these reports come out.
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