Barack Obama may have cast some less-than-thrilling votes since taking office in January, but at least he's putting his money where his mouth is. The
Chicago Sun-Times reports today that Obama has raised more than $1 million since Jan. 1 for Democratic senators up for re-election next year.
Apparently his most recent on-line appeal, via MoveOn for top GOP target Sen. Robert Byrd, set some sort of a record: $500,000 after nine hours online, and a total of $834,000 by the time the three-day pitch ended on March 31.
Except for what MoveOn.Org raised for Sen. John Kerry's Democratic presidential campaign -- and that was many requests over several months -- the Byrd appeal with Obama's potent name set a fund-raising record, Tom Matzzie, the Washington director of MoveOn.Org, told me Sunday.
"The Kerry effort was probably in the eight-figure range. Byrd is the most that MoveOn members have contributed to a Senate or House candidate. We have 39,822 members in West Virginia as of this morning,'' Matzzie said.
The article goes into some detail about Obama's fund-raising history, noting that he raised $1.2 million for seven Democratic Senate candidates last year, and a total of $1,446,100 since Jan. 1.
Well, good for him. I'm pleased Obama's sharing the wealth. He may not be the progressive firebrand we were hoping for, but at least he's doing something for the Democrats' long-term interests (and his own, no doubt). But I do still hold out the hope that he'll do more to live up to his rhetoric.
Interestingly, the article also mentions that Time magazine has named Obama to its annual "Time 100" list of the "world's most influential people" - those with the "clout and power to change our world." Frist is the only other senator on the list. Time (registration required) says:
"In only his fourth month in the Senate, Obama is still learning the rules of Washington, but he realizes many Americans have even greater hopes for him."
My thoughts exactly.