Obama: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? (Updated)

Jennifer Rubin makes (another) interesting point: experience-poor Obama has touted his campaign as proof of his executive abilities:

“Well, my understanding is that Governor Palin’s town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We’ve got 2,500 in this campaign. I think their budget is maybe $12 million a year. You know, we have a budget of about three times that just for the month. So I think that our ability to manage large systems and to execute I think has been made clear over the last couple of years,” Obama said.

Don't look now, but the Obama campaign that till now has been noted by record-breaking fund raising, is suddenly running dry--so bad that even The New York Times is mentioning it:

After months of record-breaking fund-raising, a new sense of urgency in Senator Barack Obama’s fund-raising team is palpable as the full weight of the campaign’s decision to bypass public financing for the general election is suddenly upon it.Pushing a fund-raiser later this month, a finance staff member sent a sharply worded note last week to Illinois members of its national finance committee, calling their recent efforts “extremely anemic.”

...But the campaign is struggling to meet ambitious fund-raising goals it set for the campaign and the party. It collected in June and July far less from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s donors than originally projected. Moreover, Mr. McCain, unlike Mr. Obama, will have the luxury of concentrating almost entirely on campaigning instead of raising money, as Mr. Obama must do.

As Ed Morissey points out:

Unfortunately, by declining public financing (and reneging on his campaign pledge), Obama turned down $84 million, which he could have received without spending money on fundraising. It’s difficult to see how this decision benefited Obama, if the entire upside now is that Obama will raise slightly less for himself while the DNC continues underperforming against the RNC.

Notes Rubin:

Hmm. So it must be fair then to look at his campaign’s budgetary situation — a bloated operation with unrealistic revnue projections — and conclude this is a fair test of his executive skills, right? At the very least, his most significant financial decision — to break his pledge on public financing — has proven to be problematic and now forces him to devote precious time to scrambling for dollars. I suspect we won’t hear quite as much bragging about his finely tuned campaign in the days and weeks ahead.

Jonah Goldberg comments on how Obama can still be so desperate for cash considering how much he has raised so far:

I was talking to a political mover-and-shaker the other day and one point he said hadn't gotten enough attention from handicappers is the Obama campaign's burn-rate. He raises piles of money, but he spends it very, very fast in part because he has such a huge paid-staff. I don't want to get the numbers wrong, but it would be interesting to know how cost-effective his campaign organization is considering how Obama himself says that running a presidential campaign is his foremost executive experience and one of his major qualifications for being president.

Campaign problems, being reduced to personally going after Palin, losing the 'bounce' from the convention--what a difference from the self-assured and unstoppable juggernaut from a few months ago.

Hot Air also covers this, with the following picture and caption:

Will flip-flop for food.

Is there a hint of desperation in the air?

UPDATE: Discarded Lies points out: Life imitates The Onion again:

Black Guy Asks Nation For Change

March 19, 2008

CHICAGO—According to witnesses, a loud black man approached a crowd of some 4,000 strangers in downtown Chicago Tuesday and made repeated demands for change.

"The time for change is now," said the black guy, yelling at everyone within earshot for 20 straight minutes, practically begging America for change. "The need for change is stronger and more urgent than ever before. And only you—the people standing here today, and indeed all the people of this great nation—only you can deliver this change."

It is estimated that, to date, the black man has asked every single person in the United States for change.

"I've already seen this guy four times today," Chicago-area ad salesman Blake Gordon said. "Every time, it's the same exact spiel. 'I need change.' 'I want change.' Why's he so eager for all this change? What's he going to do with it, anyway?"

Read the whole thing.

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

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