Both candidates made judgements on campaign spending and it looks like Obama made another good decision. He knew he had to combat the smear machine. McCain simply underestimated Obama's support.
RCP: Barack Obama is well on his way to buying the Presidency. The effect of Obama's financial advantage has now even been admitted by the New York Times, whose editors and political writers already may be lighting up their victory cigars, like Red Auerbach, the Celtics coach of legend.And now the McCain camp is complaining that it doesn't know who Obama's $200 or less donors are. Well, they are people like me, who spend $25 here and there because we believe that Obama is going to be the best leader for our country. Seems like the McCain camp just can't get over Obama's successful campaign.
The state where the Obama campaign has been carpet bombing the airwaves most vigorously this past weekend was West Virginia. If you watched TV over the weekend in the Mountaineer State, you could not have missed the Obama ads -- an extraordinary buy of $1.2 million per day for 5 days, with ads running in every media market in the state. The McCain campaign, had it spent all of its $84 million for the general election on TV ads, would have had $1.4 million to spend per day for campaign ads for the last two months for all 50 states. Obama has just spent almost that much per day in one state with fewer than 2 million people and but 5 Electoral College votes.
Swamp: John McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, today called Barack Obama "the greatest fundraiser in presidential history," but questioned why Obama has not disclosed the names of people who gave him $200 or less.
"Our house is right," said Davis, noting that McCain has disclosed all of his donors. "And the question remains, why with the technology he has at his hands and the demands for transparency that he is so well known for...why doesn't he do the same thing?"
The not-so-subtle suggestion from Davis is that Obama is collecting contributions from foreigners, which is illegal. Obama reported raising $150 million for his campaign last month, a record-breaker on every front.