Monday, August 07, 2006

NED LAMONT, TRIUMPH OF THE BLOGS?   [Byron York]

A new poll of the Lamont-Lieberman race has Ned Lamont ahead in Connecticut, 51-45.  A look at the lefty blogs shows that the netroots types are trying very hard to keep their excitement in check, despite the recent polls — cautious optimism is all they will allow themselves.

Of course, if Lamont wins, it will be the Triumph of the Blogs.  But looking at campaign finance reports this morning, it's hard to see that that would be the real meaning of a Lamont victory.

According to PoliticalMoneyLine , Lamont had raised $4,116,131 through July 19.  (The figures are undoubtedly much higher now.)  But $2,501,500 of that came from one contributor: Ned Lamont.  Nearly all the rest, $1,607,371, came in contributions from individuals.  (Lamont, in a point of great pride, listed just $3,784 from PACs.)

Now go to actblue.com , the clearinghouse for most netroots fundraising.  According to figures on the site, which are likely much more up to date than the FEC records on PoliticalMoneyLine, Lamont has raised $298,068 from individuals contributing through blogs that take part in actblue.  The site breaks down the figures by individual blogs or groups of blogs.  For example, a consortium of three blogs, Firedoglake (featuring the hot blogger of the moment in Connecticut, Jane Hamsher), DownWithTyranny, and Crooks&Liars, has raised $60,123.33 from 1,354 donors.  The larger Netroots Candidates group, coordinated through MyDD, has raised $104,543 from 2,913 contributions.  Smaller blogs have raised far less; myleftwing, for example, has raised $100.

So what does this say?  Because of reporting times, the figures don't quite match up (Lamont has surely contributed a lot more to himself by now), but the rough numbers are these: Lamont has raised $4.1 million, $2.5 million of which came from himself and $298,000 of which came from bloggers.  Now, $298,000 is not nothing.  But is it the sort of fundraising power that will upend Democratic Party politics?  And will a Lamont victory truly be the Triumph of the Blogs?

08/07 10:43 AMShare