Byline: Mark Silva
ORLANDO, Fla. _ With $130 million collected for his re-election campaign, President Bush has broken his own fund-raising record and Thursday will pick up another $750,000 from supporters in Florida.
"We are making history today for the number of grass-roots donors the campaign has received, for the scope and breadth of those donors, as well as the amounts raised," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said Wednesday, boasting a base of 494,000 donors.
Bush isn't the only one breaking records at the start of this election year: Howard Dean, former governor of Vermont and front-runner among Democratic candidates for president in opinion polling, has raised nearly $41 million _ a record for a Democrat at this stage in the campaign.
And, unlike the president, who is raising most of his money from events such as Thursday night's $2,000-per-head reception at the PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Dean has raised half of his money on the Internet. Dean's average donor gave $107.
The bankrolls of the president and the Democrat holding the strongest chance of claiming his party's nomination _ together with even greater sums in the hands of independent interest-groups _ promise an unprecedented contest for the White House in 2004.
But Bush is ahead in more than just fund raising. The newest Gallup Poll this week shows him with a formidable advantage over Dean _ 22 percentage points nationally.
The poll also reveals that retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark of Little Rock, Ark., has gained strength among Democrats nationwide and is rivaling Dean. This will help Clark stake a claim as a potential alternative to Dean as party contests begin in just 11 days.
But it is not so much national surveys as the results of Iowa's caucuses Jan. 19, the New Hampshire primary election Jan. 27 and several party primaries Feb. 3 that will determine whether Dean can maintain his status as the Democratic front-runner.
Dean has set a record among Democrats with his novel Internet-based campaign, reporting $15.4 million raised in the past three months. That surpassed $14.8 million the previous quarter, then a record.
Clark, too, has come on strong in fund raising, reporting $10.5 million raised during the final quarter of 2003.
Clark expects to collect $6 million in federal matching money and raise another $4 million this month, providing the retired four-star general the resources needed to compete with Dean if Clark can hold his own in New Hampshire and possibly win South Carolina's primary Feb. 3.
"We think we are in better shape than anyone in the race except Howard Dean," Clark spokesman Matt Bennett said.
But Bush is in best shape of all.
The president _ whose campaign held $99 million unspent at year's end _ is nearing a fund-raising goal of $150 million to $170 million. That eclipses the $105 million benchmark of his 2000 campaign.
Bush raised $47 million during the fourth quarter of 2003, Mehlman said Wednesday. Most came from events such as Thursday's at the home of the Professional Golfers Association of America.
Of the $130 million the president has raised, $100 million has come from formal fund-raising events, $27 million from direct-mail and telephone solicitations and $3 million online.
Yet, while big money dominates the president's campaign, Mehlman says 415,000 of the 494,000 donors have given the president less than $200. Bush's average contribution for the year: $211.
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And the president faces heavy spending from independent interest groups opposing his re-election, his manager suggests. Democrats counter that they face the same kind of spending from big-money Republican donors.
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision upholding federal campaign reforms limiting what anyone can contribute to political parties has shifted wealthy, unrestricted "soft money" donors to organizations such as MoveOn.org, counting on backers such as billionaire George Soros committing millions of dollars to a campaign against Bush.
"If you truly want to compare what is being spent on both sides, you have to compare what the soft-money, third parties are spending," Mehlman said.
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(c) 2004, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).
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