Don't blame me - I'm just the messenger
http://www.nytimes.com/...
After months of record-breaking fund-raising, a new sense of urgency in Senator Barack Obama’s fund-raising team is palpable as the full weight of the campaign’s decision to bypass public financing for the general election is suddenly upon it.
Pushing a fund-raiser later this month, a finance staff member sent a sharply worded note last week to Illinois members of its national finance committee, calling their recent efforts “extremely anemic.”
At a convention-week meeting in Denver of the campaign’s top fund-raisers, buttons with the image of a money tree were distributed to those who had already contributed the maximum $2,300 to the general election, a subtle reminder to those who had failed to ante up.
The signs of concern have become evident in recent weeks as early fund-raising totals have suggested that Mr. Obama’s decision to bypass public financing may not necessarily afford him the commanding financing advantage over Senator John McCain that many had originally predicted.
Now, the thing that annoys me is the media is playing this up that Obama SHOULD have a big advantage over McCain since he can raise unlimited money. This is NOT true and never was supposed to be true. The fact is that Obama hopes to level the playing field by opting out of public financing. In other words, if Obama accepted public financing just like McCain did, Obama would be at a huge disadvantage since the RNC (party of fat cats) will raise plenty more money than the DNC. OBama hopes to neutralize this advantage by raising more himself.
Why can't the media report it this way? If Obama is able to hold his own and equal the McCain/RNC money machine, it's a win for him.