Hill's $10 Million - 2 good 2 be True.

The Clinton campaign says it raised $2.5 million online last night in the three hours after the Pennsylvania primary was called, and 80% of that came from new donors.   Then, the campaign said it has experienced a crush of new contributions overnight that now totals more than $10 million. Terry McCauliffe said that they had 50,000 new donors and $10 million dollars, then he said they were on track to raise that amount.
I'm not buying it and neither should you.

First of all, why would Hillary not be completly honest about how much money she raised?  That's easy, to rest once and for all the question of whether Hillary Clinton will have the resources to compete,  A question that has followed her campaign since she first reported loaning herself money.

Micah L. Sifry from TechPresident has a good argument, he says:

If 80% of Clinton's donations are from new givers, that implies a total number of about 60,000 donations. If we're very generous and assume an average donation of $100, which is high for first-time donors, that gives Clinton a current take of at most $6 million.

90% of politics is about perception, and if a campaign is perceived to be running out of money, or floating in money, that affects what other people will think and do about it. Internet-driven fundraising is an amazing thing, because the costs are so low and the speed so seemingly instantaneous. But anyone who reports on it should be careful to remember that the campaigns can easily hype these numbers, and by the time anyone checks for the truth it won't matter.

•  Yah, it seemed fishy to me too.

  Wolfson's got more spin than a George Gervin finger roll. Or a Roberto Carlos freekick. Or the earth's rotation for that matter.

  by Last Years Man on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:35:56 PM PDT

  •  Ahh.. Terry Mac, not Wolfson.

    but who cares, really. They're all the same.

    by Last Years Man on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:37:30 PM PDT

  •  They raised $2 and she donated $8

    To her own campaign--good, I hope she goes broke, and dies poor and without health insurance. I sure as hell won't spare any change for her if I pass her on the street.

    by The Bagof Health and Politics on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:49:23 PM PDT

    •  And to be clear,

      I hope she lives a long, miserable life after this campaign.

      by The Bagof Health and Politics on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:50:28 PM PDT

    •  The Clintons still have plenty left.

      by windwaterway on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:01:12 PM PDT

    •  That's a tad harsh....

      ...but I do not believe she raised that.

      I believe they are desperately short of cash, especially after PA,  and they've probably been seeing a tailing off heading into that vote....no doubt her win did stimulate some additional giving, but I really doubt 10 because the bottom line remains that the math on delegates and votes just isn't there and between maxed out donors and ones hedging their bets against throwing good money after likely bad....it is hard to figure that $10 million new bucks would come streaming in so quickly and so large.

      If she took in $10 million, given the fact that she is running out of states to compete, it would seem that she would be spending lots of it for advertising in NC and Indiana in the next two weeks...so......

      Keep an eye out the next two weeks to see how she and Oabama do on air time and then see whether $6-7 million bucks was plunked in the Clinton column.  If it does, color me surprised.

      by dweb8231 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:14:43 PM PDT

    •  That's disgusting

      I'm an Obama supporter but that's a despicable thing to say. How could a Democrat wish for anyone to die poor without health insurance?

      by democrattotheend on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:27:35 PM PDT

      •  Because Hillary Clinton

        Is singularly responsible for the failure of the last health insurance reform project and is working on making sure that health insurance reform will be killed for another generation. I have long had a beef with Hillary and Bill Clinton.

        by The Bagof Health and Politics on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:47:33 PM PDT

  •  Yeah, they raised $500,000

    and loaned themselves $9.5 million....

    What I really want to know is, what is the price to shut that ***** up?!

    by John Poet on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:52:15 PM PDT

•  I can't wait until we get some real hard #'s

  When heard McCauliffe say that I thought WTF?

  by AntKat on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:36:06 PM PDT

  •  they have to be out there screaming,

    "it's raining money!!!" If they don't, they're sunk.

    I personally know three people who are donating BECAUSE they saw mcAwful gloating and preening about her money.

    Watching Obama's page refresh - almost 50,000 new donors since last night, means his demoralized, directionless campaign is simply motivating hopeless romantics to take out plastic at an even faster rate than before.

    I personally know three people who are donating BECAUSE they saw mcAwful gloating and preening about her money.

    by Chrispy67 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:43:08 PM PDT

  •  Hard numbers not due til late May -- race over

    by then.   Is it really a lie if you can't really be punished for it?  

    On the other hand, we shouldn't reflexively assume that she didn't energize many people yesterday -- a lot of people really are pulling for her hard.

    by throughaglassdarkly on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:44:28 PM PDT

    •  loved that line

      Is it really a lie if you can't really be punished for it?

      So Rovian!

      by tonyfv on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:05:58 PM PDT

  •  here's what McAuliffe is saying

    in an e-mail to supporters this afternoon:

    Folks, I've never seen anything like it -- thanks to you we are breaking every record we've ever had. The number of people coming on our website and supporting Hillary is nothing short of incredible. More than 50,000 people have contributed to the campaign for the very first time in the last 24 hours alone.

    Just like Hillary, he knows he never has to own up to it.

    by QuickSilver on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:57:54 PM PDT

•  What does that mean "on track"?

  You mean before the end of time?

  by Aqualad08 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:37:09 PM PDT

  •  The same as "we're raised UP TO $10 million" nt

    by throughaglassdarkly on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:40:54 PM PDT

  •  It means IF they actually raised $2.5mil in 3hrs,

    at that rate, they COULD have $10mil by the end of the day.

    If I got paid, each week, the same amount I get paid once per month, I'd be on track to getting out of debt and going on vacation.

    But I don't, so I'm not.... But I COULD be.

    by second gen on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:57:05 PM PDT

•  No way... Clintons would LIE?! (n/t)

  by jkddude on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:37:36 PM PDT

•  How many lies has she been caught in so far?

  Why should anyone believe anything that comes out of that woman's mouth?  First thing I thought when they announced that she raised the 10M was, "She's lyin'."

  by nolalily on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:37:51 PM PDT

  •  How Many Lies?

    HAHAHAHA. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

    by Empower Ink on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:53:23 PM PDT

    •  rec'd for sounding likes

      Jon Stewart (in my head!).

      by nolalily on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 06:56:30 AM PDT

•  It was a really stupid thing to do, regardless

  People were giving because they heard she was broke. When you hear someone just stumbled upon 10MM, you put away your wallet. HRC's campaign: dumber than a bag of hammers.

  by 1 20 2009 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:38:48 PM PDT

•  didn't one of the news casters on MSNBC say

  they got a text message to donate to Hillary? Weren't they trying to pimp out their site just a little bit to much during the speech and on air?

  by AHiddenSaint on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:39:09 PM PDT

  •  Fucking corporate whores... nt

    by John Poet on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:53:16 PM PDT

•  Is she

  soliciting snipers for donations now?

  by jre2k8 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:39:25 PM PDT

•  hillary 10 million = almost pays the debt. nt.

  by fivefouranonymous on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:39:32 PM PDT

•  Some reporter should ask for a peak at the bank

  statement -- just to "confirm"

  by throughaglassdarkly on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:39:50 PM PDT

•  OK, NOW I'm pissed.

  I found it very hard to believe, but I saw that figure in almost every news source I looked at.

  Damn.  If I had seen McAuliffe saying it, that would have given me the clue.

  That fucking tool.

  by Presumptuous Insect on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:41:45 PM PDT

•  She also said she has more votes...

  ...than anyone who has ever run for President. She's a liar, but counts on Corporate Media to spread her lies and keep her campaign alive. It's becoming pretty clear that the Republicans' choice for the Democratic nominee  is Clinton.

  by nehark on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:43:24 PM PDT

•  She plugged her website at her victory speech

  and it linked directly to the donation page. I imagine she MAY have hauled in a couple of million doing that.

  by jeepdad on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:44:00 PM PDT

  •  Some money doesn't make 10 million

    Remember they reported 20 million for all of last month.  Bold faced liars.

    by world dancer on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:08:15 PM PDT

•  I knew it!

  Notice the timing of the FEC filing too. I KNEW it would get lost in the noise. It was very smart of them, and notice no reintroduction of the story now.

  by woodstock007 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:45:01 PM PDT

•  See if she has any HUGE media buys...

  for IN and NC.  IF, a big IF, she raised that money.  Finally, she will have to come clean after May 1.  You know Obama will put his numbers up, and the real numbers are out on May 20.  So, she will lie, yes lie, to make the numbers more than what they are to try to get past IN and NC.

  by icebergslim on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:45:42 PM PDT

•  First it was a million in three hours, then 10?

  How very...   convenient, as the Church Lady might have said.  Hillary needed ten million to pay her debts, so oopsie, there all of a sudden it came flowing over the internet!  Not.

  If you wanted a test as to which candidate you could trust, would you:

  a.  Trust the campaign that hatched "a million dollar minute for Obama" and admitted it only yielded $250,000?  Nice, but shy of their hopes, right?

  or:

  b.  A pack of rabid weasels like Wolfson, Penn and McAuliffe  who claim to have raised ten million in twenty-four hours?

  Bullshit.  That is all you need to know about the Clinton campaign, in a nutshell.  They will say, and do, whatever their desperate crooked little minds can dream up to try to save their reputations and future job prospects.  And Hillary lets them do it.  Very...  Bush-like, wouldn't you say?  I would.

  But say, how about everyone just takes them at their word and stops sending them money?  They've got enough to carry them, right?  Let them stop fund-raising and prove to us that they really got that big boost.  Double what they got all last month, mind you.  More than any candidate has ever brought in during any one day, ever.  It is called "the big lie".  I will not dwell on who invented the idea.  Look it up.  Very reminiscent of P.T. Barnum as well.

  by arthura on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:45:57 PM PDT

  •  But I Thought The Million Dollar Minute

    wasn't officially from Obama's campaign, just a group of Obama supporters who were trying to do it for Obama. I contributed, and glad I did, except I couldn't contribute yesterday after the PA defeat.

    by Empower Ink on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:00:41 PM PDT

    •  It was. nt.

      by rian90 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:03:08 PM PDT

      •  I mean it was a group of supporters nt

        by rian90 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:03:31 PM PDT

•  Good for her..

  She needs ten million to get back in the black. I think she is in debt around that number? So then she now has $0.

  by LogicaLizE on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:45:58 PM PDT

  •  I know how she can make fifty bucks.

    I just don't know, 'with who'....

    Yeah, I'm bad as bad is. lol

    by John Poet on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:55:35 PM PDT

•  No distinction about primary funds,

  I think some is real she had the same effect when she raised the 35millon in feb, BUT i also think she has a huge amount of max donors who can still give the GE money and are used strategically for numbers stories like this were they don't have to deliniate between primary and general funds.

  by wil5013 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:46:50 PM PDT

•  She's a liar...

  unbelievable. I'd ask for the bank statement,too, but MSM is so full of cowards that they're unlikely to call this motley crew on their web of bullshit.

  by Wisteacher on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:46:51 PM PDT

•  $5 donations

  Some pundit last night (on MSNBC, I think) responded to an email on the CrackBerry and read it aloud - the Clinton campaign was requesting $5 donations. The pundit pointed out that they wanted to boost their number of donors/new donors.

  by dannyinla on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:46:54 PM PDT

  •  I Hope She Got Hundreds of $5 donations

    Her campaign has to pay a fee for every transaction, and $5 is almost not worth it except for the spin of the number of new donors. They are desperate.

    by Empower Ink on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:05:22 PM PDT

    •  I have thought about sending her a couple of

      checks that I know won't clear; but that would be wrong and illegal and this primary season is just too damn long.

      by msanthrope on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:23:21 PM PDT

•  She's full of it.

  I didn't believe it when I first heard it, and now, they are "on track".  

  But look,  she lied about Bosnia, admitted it, and dared anyone to care.  She calls lies mistakes, just like Bush.  But a lot of PA voters didn't care.  Superdelegates don't care.

  So what is to stop her and her campaign from just making shit up as they go along? Nothing, and so they do.

  by orrg1 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:47:01 PM PDT

•  This is the last bluff

  Before the hand folds.

  These are a bunch of fibbers - who got caught flat-footed in their own cesspool of lies and deceptions.   Enuff with the Clintons.

  Last monthn they talked about HUGE numbers from the internet - their biggest source of their $20 million was $7 million from the District of Columbia - which means that lobbyists and PAC's gave in large numbers - again.

  Lets see how much they compete in NC and on the airwaves.    All these guys are looking for at this moment is free air time - expect to them more on CNN and Fox!  

  $10 million in 24 hours - pure unadulterated BS!

  by griz4u on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:49:51 PM PDT

•  This is Hillary's last best chance...

  ...to retire her debt before she gets bounced (pun intended) from this thing.

  by jre2k8 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:52:55 PM PDT

•  Parse the sentence.

  "They had 50,000 new donors AND $10 million in donations."

  They had 50,000 new donors.

  They had $10 million in new donations.  

  The previous two sentences do not imply that they received 50,000 donations that averaged $200.  They could have 500,000 donors, 50,000 of them new, in which the 500,000 total donors averaged $20 last night and McAuliffe's statement would still be true.  Her campaign e-mailed her supporters 3 times in the 19 hours after PA was called and her surrogates and supporters put out a vigorous call for donations.  

  "On track to" can also be misleading -- extrapolation is always a tricky operation.

  by Yamaneko2 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:54:50 PM PDT

  •  "Her campaign e-mailed her supporters 3 times in

    the 19 hours after PA was called"

    Do you suppose people were donating just to get her campaign to STFU?

    by second gen on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:02:29 PM PDT

    •  That way they could report alot of traffic n/t

      by world dancer on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:09:29 PM PDT

•  Makes no real sense

  They said they were, "on track," to raise $10, by midnight tonight, I assume.  Now, initially, they had reported $100k in the first 20 min. After a few hours, it was 2.5 mil. Then by 7 am, it was 3 mil. If you start from midnight this morning to 7 am that equates to about $142k every 20 minutes. It only takes $139k every 20 min to get to $10 mil in 24 hours, so it's not entirely incorrect to say they are on that track. This, of course, assumes that this level of such high fundraising will continue throughout the day, which, as we all know, it will not. After the initial swell of cash, the fundraising starts to peter out. Now, 3 milly ain't bad, and I'd wager they raised a good 4-6 million today, but it looks like Obama raised pretty much the same amount in that same period of time. And, certainly, it ain't no $10 million.

  by TheSilverMonkey on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:00:09 PM PDT

  •  To say "they are on track" to raise $10mil

    is about as dishonest as Obama saying they are on track to raising $1.44billion in 24 hours because he once raised $1mil in a minute.

    (60 minutes X 24 hours = 1440 minutes @ $1mil/min = $1.44bil)

    by second gen on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:09:57 PM PDT

•  It's not the money that keeps her going.

  It's the wins. Obama needs to land a knockout punch in Indiana.

  by windwaterway on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:00:38 PM PDT

  •  incorrect - it's her ego. eom

    by tonyfv on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:12:05 PM PDT

•  Most of Money Likely From Big Backers For GE

  80% of the $2.5 million was from new donors or $2 million from new donors.

  They do not state whether $50 million is from new or old donors. And, they also did not state whether the amount is for the general or primary.

  Thus, the conclusion I draw is that Clinton's big backers agreed to give her more money for the GE if she won Philly by a good margin. She likely raised around $3 million to $5 million from 50K new donors over the internet that can be used toward the primary.    

  by sweetliberty on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:04:03 PM PDT

•  LOL

  Yeah... LOL. 50,000 new donors my ass.

  by jbjowe on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:09:35 PM PDT

•  didn't believe a word

  i knew this was a lie and an obvious one.
  the clintons lie people, that is what they do.

  by kiki236 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:10:11 PM PDT

•  Is she paying her bills, is she paying her bills

  Is she paying her bills..........That is the test if the money is there.

  by Kranman on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:14:18 PM PDT

•  If she is spamming people with emails

  then I believe the figures even less.

  Sending out too many emails begging for cash just doesn't work--it annoys people and makes you look desperate.

  by Presumptuous Insect on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:14:23 PM PDT

•  The e-mail I got from Terry McAuliffe 3 hours ago

  "Folks, I've never seen anything like it -- thanks to you we are breaking every record we've ever had. The number of people coming on our website and supporting Hillary is nothing short of incredible. More than 50,000 people have contributed to the campaign for the very first time in the last 24 hours alone.

  If you haven't gone to the website today and made a contribution, now's the time to join the wave of grassroots support. And if you have contributed, send this message to your friends and tell them to join you."

  Apparently Terry didn't get the memo that I stopped giving money to Hillary 5 months ago, and that I would rather eat glass than contribute anything to the Clinton Campaign.

  And Terry's message was followed by this:

  "This campaign is your campaign, and the victory we celebrated last night is your victory.

  Now, thanks to you, the tide is turning in this race. We never stopped believing in one another, never doubted that we could count on each other. You didn't quit, and when I'm president, I promise I won't quit on you.

  Now with the next critical contests right around the corner, we need your immediate help to build on the hard-earned momentum of our Pennsylvania victory and continue our success all the way to the nomination.

  Contribute today to help carry our momentum to Indiana, North Carolina, West Virginia, and beyond (in the e-mail this was a link to a donation page).

  Even though the Obama campaign went for broke trying to knock us out of the race, the people of Pennsylvania had other ideas.

  We connected with Pennsylvania families who know they need a strong leader who's on their side to turn around the battered Bush economy and end President Bush's disastrous war in Iraq. And as this redefined contest moves across the country, we'll keep connecting.

  I'm in this race to fight for you. And you know you can count on me to keep fighting for you every day. And as long as we keep working together, we'll wrest control of the White House from the Republicans and defeat John McCain. I'm going to continue to rely on your heart and your spirit every step of the way.

  Contribute now, and together, we can carry our winning message to victory (in the e-mail this was a link to a donation page).

  Thanks to you, we're on a roll. And with your immediate help, we'll keep moving forward until we've won the Democratic nomination, won the November election, and earned the opportunity to lead America in a new, more promising direction.

  Thanks so much for believing in me and believing in how much we can accomplish if we keep pulling together.

  Sincerely,
  Hillary (signature)
  Hillary Rodham Clinton"

  Hillary, I hate to break this to you, but I no longer want you.

  by fetboy on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:14:38 PM PDT

  •  Terry does't care you have given in months.

    Terry said they were on track to raise $10M today, and now Terry needs to make that happen.  At this point, he's probably sending out Nigerian royalty spam under an assumed name.

    by msanthrope on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:19:23 PM PDT

•  I don't believe one...

  ....iota of one atom of one letter of anything that comes out of that camp. Starting the day after Iowa with the abortion mailer this campaign has been absolutely dishonest in everything they have said and done.

  Love the tax return too. 10 mil to charity...the fucking Clinton Foundation. Go f yourself McCauliffe/Hillary.

  Hillary supporters....God bless you for your determination and I apologize for my stark language. We really desperately need you guys now that Hillaroid has fucked with the party's candidate so much. I honestly hope you join the Democratic party in trying to elect our nominee,

  My pop taught me very few things but one was "Honesty is the best policy." I take it to heart.

  by bradreiman on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:17:55 PM PDT

•  And the e-mail I got from David Plouffe

  Subject: the facts

  "Last night, Senator Clinton used up her last, best chance to cut appreciably into Barack Obama's elected delegate lead.

  She came up short.

  In fact, she barely made a dent. At most, she picked up a net gain of 12 delegates -- less than our gain, for example, in Colorado (where we gained 17) or Kansas (where we gained 14). Her gain in Pennsylvania was less than half of our gain in Virginia, where we added to our lead by 25 delegates.

  But there is one measure by which her campaign's gains are real.

  The Clinton campaign claims they've raised $3.5 million dollars since the polls closed yesterday.

  We can't afford to let that go unanswered.

  Your support allowed us to come this far, and we need your help to finish this. Please make a donation of $25 today to support this campaign:

  https://donate.barackobama.com/...

  Your grassroots support has brought the Democratic nomination in our sights.

  Here's how it breaks out:

     * After Pennsylvania, we have a lead of at least 159 elected delegates earned through all of the primaries and caucuses so far. We have a total of at least 1493 pledged delegates.

     * Meanwhile, we've been rapidly gaining ground among the so-called superdelegates (elected leaders and party officials who get a vote to choose our nominee), cutting Senator Clinton's lead from more than 100 early this year to less than 25. We have a total of 238 publicly committed superdelegates.

     * The total number of delegates needed to secure the nomination is 2,024. That means we are only 293 delegates away from securing the nomination.

  In less than two weeks, we'll square off in the key battleground states of North Carolina and Indiana, when there will be as many delegates at stake as there were last night in Pennsylvania.

  To grow our significant lead and close out this race, we must remain competitive in these contests and the 7 others that will follow.

  Barack needs your support again right now to finish this race:

  https://donate.barackobama.com/...

  Pennsylvania was considered a state tailor-made for Senator Clinton -- she was always expected to win, and we trailed by as much as 25 points in the weeks leading up to the election.

  But thanks to you, Barack gained support among key voters in the face of long odds and unrelenting negativity from Senator Clinton, and kept the margin close enough that her delegate gain was insignificant.

  Indeed, the only surprising result from Pennsylvania is how much Barack was able to improve his standing among key voter groups since the Ohio primary.

  Among white voters, Obama narrowed the gap by 6 points. Among voters over 60, he nearly cut the gap in half, from 41 points to 24 points. Meanwhile, we continued to run strong where we have all along -- for example, winning voters ages 18-24 with over 65% of the vote.

  Barack campaigned hard in Pennsylvania. He talked about his plans to stand up to the special interests and bring people together so that we can change Washington to turn our economy around, make sure that every American has quality health care, and bring this misguided war to an end.

  An additional donation of $25 can make sure we grow our lead and finish this race in the final 9 contests:

  https://donate.barackobama.com/...

  Thank you for all your support,

  David

  David Plouffe
  Campaign Manager
  Obama for America"

  Needless to say I gave a donation.

  by fetboy on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:21:46 PM PDT

•  Man, the Clinton camp are like church elders

  asking for more money for the "Building Fund."

  by Melchuck29 on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 09:51:12 PM PDT

•  We can't assume.

  We have to donate.  I don't trust her, to be sure.  But this is about perceptions.  The supers would love a fundraising reason to not support Obama -- they'd rather go with the crook they know.  

  So donate, guys.  I know it's tight.  It's hard.  But this is our major perception game to win.  

  by 57andFemale on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 07:02:00 AM PDT