One thought which I felt was interesting was his examination of the Kerry Campaign and its fundraising efforts.  

Despite the formidable Bush-Cheney money machine, John Kerry surged (from a very low base) into $30-$45 million territory for his 5 months until the Convention. The surge was equal parts high dollar and Internet, as everyone got on board to defeat Bush. As Kerry's email director Zack Exley has described it:

The Kerry campaign, on the other hand, had the perfect fundraising ask: "Bush is going to outspend us two-to-one unless you chip in." As Kerry began to close in on Bush's fundraising numbers, the campaign could say, "Chip in again to completely level the playing field for the first time in decades."

What I felt was most interesting was Kerry's fundraising pitch. As we all remember, most Democrats wanted nothing more than to defeat Bush. So, I do not know about others here, but I had a high fever everytime I heard the name Bush during the Kerry election. So giving to Kerry's campaign was no problem.

Raffini then compares the intensity level of the 2004 election with this 2008 election.

[But] I'm not sure that even an objective observer could say that Obama vs. McCain will be anywhere near as intense as Bush vs. Kerry.

For starters, Bush vs. Kerry was consistently close and covered as such throughout. The immediate past election was 2000, which was decided by 537 votes. This closeness spawned massive grassroots energy on both sides. Bush was also a known quantity, and ousting him was a very big deal. The average voter is not as invested in Obama or McCain.

Next he compares the Obama vs. Clinton primary battle.

Though Obama vs. Clinton -- the first black vs. the first woman, enmeshed with the quest to knock off the inevitable with a hit of Bill Clinton psychodrama mixed in -- was hugely historic, seeing record levels of fundraising and turnout on both sides, will Obama vs. McCain be similarly charged? As Doug Schoen notes in this piece I quoted him in, the campaign so far is one-dimensionally about Obama with McCain as a shadow. That won't make for as interesting a give-and-take. And to the extent Obama's supporters will feel this is a cakewalk, that will diminish their level of enthusiasm.

I cannot say that I disagree with his assessment regarding McCain being in the shadow, at least during the months of May/June. There was so much that happened during the primary battle. But, then when the primary was over, and everyone turned their attention to McCain, it was as if McCain was not ready to start the General Election. So, while we where coming off of a high, McCain was still operating at a low clumsy campaign pace. His campaign was just so sloppy and boring. First, McCain made that horrible speech in front of the lime green background. Next, McCain began to confuse facts on Iraq including the pre-surge count, then Charlie Black's statement. For me, it is in fact difficult to become passionate about the General Election itself, but of course not the need to win.

Raffini ends with a point that is disagreeable

Obama's fundraising surge came during and around primary elections with the outcome in doubt. Once it seemed he had it wrapped up, his online fundraising fell off dramatically. As we've seen, online fundraising can be hugely tempermental and event-driven.

Although online fundraising may be event driven, I believe there are many variable that account for the varying financial numbers from month to month. Intensity may be one reason, but perception I believe is just as significant a reason. During the primary, Obama was outspending Hillary 2 to 1 and McCain was not even in the same league. So, I think the perception of urgency was not as strong among his contributors because Obama was doing so well financially. Nevertheless, a percentage of small donors may have given to their limits during the primary causing them to be financially unable to give during the General Election. If so, and if the percentage is large enough, then arguably Obama may have peaked to soon with respect to small donor fundraising. We will just have to wait to see.