How did Ray Meier manage to raise funds for his campaign during the first quarter of 2006? He did it the quick and easy way, of course, by drilling a very few people for all the money they had.
For example, Ray hit the Recors of Recor Associates Accountants pretty hard. Larry Recor gave 4,200 dollars. Lawrence Recor gave 4,200. Mary Ann Recor gave 4,200 too.
That's the maximum for the entire campaign season. The Recors have nothing left to give.
This kind of fundraising is like the cocaine of politics. It provides a short-lived high, but when that high is done, there's nothing left, and so the campaign needs another hit. Who will Ray Meier turn to next? Is he going to hit every accountant in the district?
This Ray Meier campaign is about as stable as a hippopotamus standing on one leg - big top, narrow base. One kick from a determined mule could send it tumbling down. A better fundraising strategy is low, but broad, with many contributors giving small amounts, so that the campaign can come back to them for more.
Ray Meier doesn't seem to understand this concept, but that shouldn't come as a surprise. This is the same guy who introduced himself to the 24th District with the shortest online announcement speech ever: "Hello, world".
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9 comments:
Jon - Mike Arcuri employed the exact same technique in getting his $4,000 contributions. He just didn't know the extended limit of $4,200 that Meiers' later starting campaign used.
I don't think either one is going to have the same success outside of Oneida County and their business connections because they aren't reaching out to the 10 other counties in this CD. Getting that type of money is going to require a lot of face time and phone time with donors in counties where they don't know you at all.
Having started earlier, Mike Arcuri should be further along on that but I don't think he's ventured outside the Oneida County borders much and it's already the middle of April.
Running in a Congressional race is a huge undertaking - only a statewide race is bigger. It's like asking a guy with a private pilot's license to fly the Space Shuttle. You need to be coached and trained by folks who know how to do it and I don't see that happening here.
Every day you don't spend most of your time making contacts, recruiting workers who will carry petitions and making new friends with healthy checkbooks is one less day you have left to do it in. When you start as late as everybody but Brad Jones has started in this CD, you need every minute of every day to be a success. Otherwise you are playing a huge game of catchup and the odds are the voters just pull their party lever. That will work fine in Ray Meier's case and that is probably his campaign strategy.
Mike Arcuri has not had to actually campaign in the last two elections he was in. Apparently he has only run one contested election. He wasn't going to really run until Boehlert pulled out so he is off to a late start. Unless he takes the criticism and advice here to heart, he is going to be one angry loser in November.
I don't think any of the candidates in this race are worried much about "catching up" with Brad Jones. But I do hope he remains in the race to take votes away from meier. He's the quintessential example of why extreme campaigners can't win in this district and we democrats could learn a lesson from it if we wanted to. I would love to see him beat Meier.It would be worth it just to see a different kind of stupid look on Meier's face. We love ya Braddo. Keep up the good work!
Don't worry about the Recor's or other families like them giving their limit already. They have other family members. The assumption here that raising less money is good, is rather lame. But then since Les raised Less, I suppose that's one way to placate one's heart.
You need to worry about "catching up" with the default voter registration plurality of Republican and Ray Meier. Brad Jones got an early enough start but he might not have the fundraising ability - I wouldn't worry much about him after the April 15th report.
So - 11:53 am - what is your congressional race experience?
12:26 - You're misunderstanding the mathematics of fundraising. The article doesn't promote raising less money. It suggests that, if a candidate raises a certain amount of money, it's better to raise a small amount of money from a large number of people than to raise a large amount of money from a small number of people.
It's a sign of a healthy campaign to have many donors, because those donors are also likely volunteers and voters. An hour volunteered is worth a lot more than its equivalent value in wages.
12:38 It's zero, but I have eyes. I can see that Meier is already raising nearly 3:1 dollars as opposed to the guy who was the "early bird". I can see that the Party for the most part is gearing up to rally behind Good Ole Ray, and I can also see that the Conservative party will have no problem if Ray wins a primary, they have graced him with their endorsement in the past and of course, why shouldn't they, considering he hasn't got a moderate or left leaning bone in his body?..in spite of that bogus mild mannered demeaner. Jones might have been able to needle Boehlert in the past, but Boehlert is a Liberal next to Meier. Still, I love seeing him in this race for obvious reasons and hope he remains on the ballot when he loses the primary.
Ok, Democrat, I see your point, which is rare (heh). But I think in the end, having the most money sure helps no matter which type of base it comes from.
anonymous @ 4:49 said: "having the most money sure helps" -- precisely, and isn't that in a nutshell why US politics is such a f'ed up mess and has more to do with your fundraising prowess than your voter appeal and platform?
And how exactly does one "appeal" to the voters without the money to travel, meet and advertise? Shall we depend on press coverage to you think? Because I don't know about where you are but where I am, if left to our newspaper, every Republican on earth would be elected, even if they all had grey matter bypasses.
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