(Political Blog) With more than $200,000 raised in a "moneybomb" Wednesday, the Rand Paul U.S. Senate campaign has topped $500,000 in campaign contributions for the 4th quarter. Yet, the one day total is only about one-third of the $700,000 goal stated by campaign manager David Adams, who nonetheless expressed satisfaction with the one day effort.
"Support from mostly small dollar donors in such great numbers is a great honor for the campaign, especially during the Christmas season and when people are so concerned about their ability to prosper in the future," Adams said to supporters online.
Despite a long run up to the moneybomb, the added legitimacy of the campaign in a WHAS11/Survey USA poll that showed Rand Paul ahead of Trey Grayson, and Paul's Congressman and iconic father, moneybomb pioneer Ron Paul encouraged his supporters to donate, the December effort was only about half as succesfull as the August moneybomb that helped put Rand Paul on the electoral map.
Rand Paul Moneybombs
Aug. 20: $430,000
Sep. 23: $186,000
Dec. 16: $200,000+
As rival Trey Grayson has acknowledged, campaign fundraising becomes increasingly difficult as the holidays approach in December. Most campaigns pretty much know their 4th quarter results by mid-December.
With Rand Paul's fundraising transparency, Grayson knows what number he has to hit within the next two weeks if he believes it is important to match Paul's 4th quarter campaign cash and total raised so far. The two campaigns were about even in fundraising through the 3rd quarter.
One needs to look only at outfunded Republican Jimmy Higdon's victory in a state senate special election this month to be reminded that campaign cash is not a predictor of victory. Grayson, however, finds himself facing other pressures within the party, namely prolific fundraiser and conservative stalwart Cathy Bailey who, in a statement to WHAS11 News one month ago today, put Grayson on notice:
"Obviously, this race is wide open. The establishment's moderate choice has slipped and hasn't lived up to the hype. At the same time, what Rand Paul has accomplished is impressive despite some of his extreme positions. I am watching it closely, as are several other concerned Kentucky Republicans who want to keep this seat in true conservative hands. Hopefully we will all know by January's filing deadline if either the establishment moderate or his insurgent opponent is truly capable of running a campaign that can survive the upcoming onslaught from the National Democratic Party."
