As many are aware Senator Obama raised $52 million in June.  While that is the number being used in the media and in some of the diaries/stories on this site, actually the most important number to watch is Senator Obama's cash on hand.  Why you may ask, I well explain below.

Last weekend, some of Seattle's eastside Democrats gathered and ran a booth at Redmond's annual Derby Days festival. We raised funds, recruited volunteers, registered voters -- and did our best to convince the eastsiders to vote for our great local Democratic Party candidates. For fun and fundraising, we had a button making project where people could make custom buttons from photographs. We also had an art station for the kiddies who wanted to color their own Obama buttons. It was a success, too. There are a lot of great new Obama buttons wandering around the eastside this week!

In addition to the local races, Washington's 45th and 48th Legislative Districts are home to two tough races that will have national impact: the race for Washington State Governor and the race for Washington's 8th Congressional District. These two districts intersect Washington's 8th CD -- where Darcy Burner is battling Dave Reichert for his seat in the House. Our race between Governor Chris Gregoire and challenger Dino Rossi is also a nailbiter.

What is unique about these races? Both contests are rematches.  

With increasing frequency John McCain is sending me requests for contributions (a consequence of an insurance-policy donation made to McCain in 2000).  Today the request included a crisp and well ironed $1 bill, presumably McCain's effort to motivate guilt giving along the lines of return address labels sent by a host of charities, from Amnesty International to the SPCA.  I pocketed the $1 bill and would like to share the pitch dated July 14.  McCain's stated goal for July is to raise $25 million.

"I want you to know that I don't take sending you this $1 bill lightly.  I understand there is a chance that you will not send the $1 bill back to me. But I'm willing to take that risk, because after all we've been through together in this historic campaign, I believe I can count on you.  Today I need you to send this $1 bill back to me along with $1,000 or $750 of your own to help our campaign take the next crucial steps in this pivotal presidential election........ The scope of Senator Obama's initial media buys sends a clear signal that he will be investing money in states no Democrat has won in years ... If we meet our financial goal of raising $25 million this month, we will stay right on track to have the funding we need to continue to implement our campaign plan and win."

$635 Raised!!!

Gabe's 2nd Birthday Obama Fundraiser Link

My son Gabe (Gabro) is 2 years old today. In the last two years, his mother and I have been blessed with the fact that he has been healthy, playful, social, and loving. For those who have had the chance to spend even a small amount of time with him, I think they can agree that those are just a few of his overall characteristics. We are also blessed to know that he loves NPR in the car, has his own "Daddy's lil Democrat" tshirt, has had "Lefty" the beanie baby donkey in his crib/bed since he was born, and understands the necessity to severely limit Fox News in the household he tends to spit up when watching it) :)

McCain's flip-flopping has become so consistent it's impossible to figure out any central message. There might be a reason for this -  

Sometimes it pays to look between the lines. The bloggers at the L.A. Times found a few entertaining facts:

Unlike last year, McCain is working hard to raise money now, and his schedulers fill in the blanks with interviews and other events to attract free media coverage wherever they happen to be.

Overall, John McCain has missed 387 votes (62.6%! missed and only showing up 37.4% of the time) during the current session of Congress (the worst record in this 110th Congress).  John McCain hasn't cast a single vote since April 8, 2008 (during a time when he was sitting pretty as presumptive nominee and Hillary and Obama were still duking it out).  

Now, I know running for President is a full-time job:  To give him a reliable comparison, I compared his activities on days since April 8 when he missed votes but Obama cast one or more votes.  (Showing up for the majority of the votes 56.3% in the 110th Congress, Obama has cast almost 20% more votes than McCain in the 110th -- a truly amazing accomplishment when you consider the length and ardor of the Democratic primary.)

So what was McCain doing on those days since April 8 when Obama showed up to vote and he didn't? See below the fold:

there are those moments in life when inspiration hits you... squarely between the eyes and threatens to break your glasses.

i received an e-mail today from my dad.  born, raised and returned some years ago to southeast alabama.  81 years old and very white.

oh, yeah... you know where this is leading, right?

follow me for the "a-ha" moment... and no, i promise not to link you to any a-ha videos...

$52 million my sound like a lot of money to the uneducated layman.  To experienced analysts here at the Washington Post, such as myself, however, the number is just one of many numbers, such as a billion or a trillion. Seen in that context, the June fundraising figures trumpeted by the Obama campaign aren't so impressive.  In fact, they are pretty ordinary. Bear with me while I do the math.

We were supposed to swamp McCain in the money race, but we're barely keeping pace.

From MSNBC's First Read

When Obama's cash reserves are combined with the DNC's, the party has about $92 million to spend right now -- a few million less than John McCain and the RNC.

From TNR's the Stump

But as First Read reminds us, the relevant metric is really Obama + DNC vs. McCain + RNC, and in that calculus it's likely to be about even.

See article here regarding the fundraising "edge" that the RNC/McSame have over the DNC/Obama.  A few things in there confused me, I was hoping fellow Kossacks could help.  Most of my befuddlement comes from the whole "primary election" funds vs. "general election" funds distinction, though media bias in general also had me scratching my head.

$585 Raised!!!

Gabe's 2nd Birthday Obama Fundraiser Link

My son Gabe (Gabro) turns 2 years old tomorrow. In the last two years, his mother and I have been blessed with the fact that he has been healthy, playful, social, and loving. For those who have had the chance to spend even a small amount of time with him, I think they can agree that those are just a few of his overall characteristics. We are also blessed to know that he loves NPR in the car, has his own "Daddy's lil Democrat" tshirt, has had "Lefty" the beanie baby donkey in his crib/bed since he was born, and understands the necessity to severely limit Fox News in the household he tends to spit up when watching it) :)

Cross-posted from OH-16: John Boccieri for U.S. Congress:

Schuring Bought by Big Oil, Corporate Executives that Slash 16th District Jobs

Canton, OH – 16th Congressional District Candidate John Boccieri raised $391,237.61 in the second fundraising quarter of 2008, bringing his total raised this cycle to $1,081,509.40 and his current cash on hand to $531,015.15.

Boccieri has a broad base of small donors. More than half of his contributions this quarter were $100 or less, and three in five of those small donations came from within the 16th District.

More below the fold...

Just reported on MSNBC... I'll link it when there is an official story.

Let's show them that we can keep this train moving!

Here's my pledge: For every person who donates before this diary falls off the Rec List, I'll put $2 in. So, if 500 people donate, I'll drop $1000.

Update: I am gonna change up the pledge a little. I am gonna donate $68 plus whatever the result is below.

Donation Count: 63
Donation Result: $126

FINAL! $194 to Obama!

Today I decided to add a fundraising link to my Obama page. I set my goal at $500 and sent emails to all of my friends and family members. The response has been okay, so far three donors and $55. Most of the holdouts have been from people who are paranoid about using credit cards over the Internet.

So now I ask a favor.

Roger Wicker has a nice edge in fundraising over Democratic challenger, former Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The race is tied according to last two polls. Musgrove is not going to be the most progressive Senate candidate  ever, but he is a H*LL of a lot better than Rubber Stamp Roger Wicker.

We have blogged about Roger Wicker's abysmal voting record to the point we are blue in the face at Cotton Mouth. Today we find out that his fundraising is not only backed by special interests (Wicker is a king of pork, with a revolving door), but that Wicker is playing dirty pool.

MO-09's open seat is up for grabs and we have a great progressive running who has a real chance to take over the seat.

Missouri's Q2 deadline is today rather than June 30th because they have an early August primary. The DCCC has said they will throw $941,000 dollars into this race after the primary. Now is the chance to turn a deep red seat, deep blue!

See Judy's daily kos diary entry here: http://www.dailykos.com/...

Judy Baker is in a four way primary and is the frontrunner but she has competition. Judy got into the race to challenge Kenny Hulshof and is a fantastic candidate.

She alone is reaching out to Daily Kos, DFA and other progressive groups because she alone shares our progressive vision.

She has been endorsed by 21st Century Democrats, NEA, SEIU, Emily's List.

Help her meet her fundraising goal tonight!

Check out her Kos ActBlue page in her diary..or donate to my ActBlue page below!

http://www.actblue.com/...

Sean Tevis was sick and tired of his state legislature representative in Kansas, an anti-evolution, anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-surveillance nutjob named Arlen Siegfreid (tell me THAT name doesn't sound evil). So Sean put his name where his mouth was and decided to run against the guy. And he needs your help.

Update: I am an idiot. I knew the fundraising had to be in tonight and went and looked at what said June report, but it was for May instead. Never mind, I am really dumb. However, keep an eye out for it later tonight. Again, sorry, I am really, really dumb. Feel free to make endless fun of me in comments