We finally got a look at Barack Obama's June numbers and they are impressive but not unexpected. The 30 mil. reported by the WSJ was initially seen as disappointing. Once the actual numbers were released and it showed a 54 mil. haul, the MSM was obviously impressed. On all of the major news channels you heard the same thing over and over, that it appears Obama lost no support after his "move to the center". The media was also assuming that the FISA vote didn't have any effect on fundraising. Many pundits made statements that made it appear as though this was indeed fact based on the June numbers.
But hold on a second. Didn't the FISA vote happen in July?
Is it not the July numbers we should be looking at for any dips in fundraising? I'm not expecting any major dip but it seems plausible that there could have been a slight drop in small donations during the beginning of the month. Whether those loses are insignificant or can be made up in these late weeks remains to be seen. But to assume no dip due to the June numbers is sort of like putting the cart before the horse. I did not hear one person in the MSM point out that the June numbers mainly represented fundraising during a time of high excitement and an expanded donor pool after clinching the nomination. But that they don't really reflect those donors that stopped giving after FISA.
So how does this set things up for the release of the July numbers? How will the MSM report the July numbers if they are less then the June numbers? Could they be setting Obama up for some negative press? It could be interesting to watch. Then again, there could be nothing there besides more to be impressed about. However, anything less then impressive numbers could give the MSM a lot to rehash.