Kucinich raised $344,891 in the first quarter, 4855 donors, $71 per person ave

[skipos]

(I knew Kuc wouldn't get the big corporate buck$, but it doesn't seem like he is even getting much grassroots support).

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich was far outpaced by his campaign rivals in fundraising during the first three months of the year, campaign finance filings revealed.

The Ohio congressman raised just $344,891 in the first quarter, according to paperwork filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission. By comparison, Democratic front-runners Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama collected $26 million and $25 million, respectively, in campaign contributions during the same period.

Campaign finance reports for money raised by the Cleveland Democrat from January through March were due to the Federal Election Commission on Sunday.

After campaign expenses, Kucinich was left with about $163,887 in the bank, campaign manager David Bright said.

The Kucinich campaign focused on developing a broad base of donors willing to make small contributions, campaign spokeswoman Sharon Jimenez said. The average contribution was $71 per person, with more than 3,600 of its 4,855 donors giving less than $50, Bright said.

Information from: The Plain Dealer,

http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070415/UPDATES01/70415004/1002/NEWS01

[mmonk]

1. He's been in the media's eye too much.

People are tired of hearing his message. It's time to give Hillary and Obama some coverage.

[Captain Angry]

3. That was funny.

You deserve a cookie.

[mmonk]

10. Thanks.

It will go good with my coffee and doughnut.:donut:

[EFerrari]

2. Thank goodness the White House goes to the highest bidder!

I feel so relieved!

HRC and Obama raised MILLIONS? I can't wait to vote for the most monied of the pair. :sarcasm:

[Cleita]

6. Oh yeah.

So which minority candidate are you for, the white woman, formerly first lady, or the African American guy.

How about voting for the candidate with the best plan to bring our country back? Ooops! Not enough money or media exposure.

[EFerrari]

7. Brings to mind the tax cuts for the rich that are going to time out

I look forward to the DLC spamming my mailbox after I've unsubbed from ALL their lists AND justifying keeping those tax cuts.

No, I won't send them a dime. I will send Dennis money every time I get one of those unsolicited solicitations from appeasers. I know that is harsh. But the stakes couldn't be higher.

:mad:

Edit: "Nobody said it would be easy." Leslie Marmon Silko

[Nutmegger]

4. My vote is NOT for sale.

The "Big Three" can wave as many bundled bills in my face as they want to. I will never sell my vote to any of them based on some glitzy ad or a new hairstyle.

When will America wake up? If it was based on the issues, Kucinich blows any candidate out of the water.

[lovuian]

5. 100,000 dollars to Dennis is like a Million to Hillary

still he keeps going

[EFerrari]

8. I'd follow Dennis anywhere. He's been open and decent and RIGHT

on just about everything.

He's not sexy or connected or funded but his is one of the more clear progressive voices raised consistently on our behalf. I support THAT.

[Alexander]

9. If I remain undecided, I might end up voting for him in protest.

If Gore and Clark stay out of the race and Obama and Edwards stay in and begin to grate on me with saber-rattling, I may end up going with Kucinich.

Which is funny, because I didn't vote for him in 04, because I had Dean to vote for. If we don't get another fire-breathing populist candidate like Dean in this race, Kucinich might peel off some of that support.

[Freddie Stubbs]

11. Over 1/3 of that money will have to go to the federal government

Kucinich forced to repay FEC $135,000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three years ago, long after Sen. John Kerry had clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, fellow Democrat Dennis Kucinich continued to campaign for the White House. Now, federal regulators say the Ohio congressman has to pay for his futile adventure.

The Federal Election Commission on Thursday said Kucinich, who is again running for president, must repay the government $135,518 in public matching funds that he spent after he had become ineligible to use them.

FEC auditors said Kucinich spent the money between March 4, 2004, and July 29, 2004, when Kerry was officially nominated. Candidates who receive less than 10 percent of the popular vote in two consecutive primaries lose their eligibility for money from the taxpayer financed presidential campaign fund.

The Kucinich campaign has disputed the auditors' conclusions, saying private money raised between August and December should be applied to debts incurred while Kucinich continued to campaign. The FEC disagreed.

more: http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/03/kucinich-forced-to-repay-fec-135000.html

[skipos]

17. Yikes.

The guy is free to run, but I never really understood why he stayed in until the bitter end. He still came in 6th, even though he stayed in much longer than everyone else.

[Freddie Stubbs]

18. Ego?

:shrug:

[skipos]

19. Maybe.

Off the subject, what is the story on your sig picture? Are you anti-nafta? Gore looks like he is taking charge in that photo, but I am not a big fan of what he was defending.

[rinsd]

22. It was strange.

At first it seemed to be the creation of a bloc at the convention to get some platform concessions but in the end he released his delegates to vote for whomever(though most stayed with him).

I think that non-push for more concession has hurt his campaign ride this time with lefties not within the Democratic party.

[stuartrida]

12. Maybe people are turned off by the fact he was 100% pro-life

before he ran for president. Or that he was a mediocre mayor who barely survived recall. I'd hold my nose and vote for him, but I think he would not be a very good president.

[mmonk]

13. I doubt they would hold that against him since that is no longer his

position. I'm willing to bet he would be popular if the people were only allowed to read the position papers of candidates without knowing which candidates wrote the particular position papers. But unfortunately, ideas, soundness and clarity of positions get lost in the glitz and big money politics of today.

[stuartrida]

14. Clinton wouldn't have voted for the IWR if she knew then what she knows now

Has everyone forgiven her? No.

Not even 5000 people gave Kucinich money. You can talk about you want about glitz and big money politics, but very, very few people are interested in having Kucinich as a President. I just saw him on the news the other day, and it isn't that hard to get on the internet and find out about him. Sure Obama and Clinton get most the TV time, but at least hundreds of thousands of people know who Kucinich. Almost 130,000 people voted for him in 2006. DU and Dailykos have thousands of members, and we all know who he is. Yet he couldn't even get 5000 of us to give money to him.

[mmonk]

20. And you think it has nothing or little to do with coverage,

his positions and what he says is well known and rejected on those grounds, and people are not influenced by being told by prognosticators that it is a waste of time to consider him because he is a joke?

[skipos]

21. Sure, he doesn't get anywhere near the coverage of HRC, BO and JRE

but I still see him on the news more than Huckabee, who still raised more money than Kucinich. I don't see a lot of Dodd either, and he did pretty well too.

The low amount of money he raised isn't a surprise to me, the low numbers of donors is. There are tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of progressive Democrats who know who Kucinich is. Very few of them gave him any money.

[mmonk]

23. So what's your message?

[skipos]

24. What's my point?

I am surprised so few people are supporting Kucinich. He isn't connecting with as many people as I thought he would. You can't only blame MSM for the fact that so few people gave money to him.

[mmonk]

25. No, but I can attribute quite a bit to it.

I guess the question is if they initially put him out as viable, would he be? We'll see if he can make any dents in his situation. I don't know where people's minds are at in the progressive community. Doesn't look good but I'll try and help get his message out, I guess. Don't really know where my vote and most of my support will end up yet.

[Sammy Pepys]

15. I think Kucinich is a borderline novelty at this point...

I don't think he'll ever really be treated as a serious Presidential candidate at this point.

[robcon]

16. Not enough money for hotels and airfare for a campaign.

He'll try, I guess, to make his own news-worthy events from Washington.