[img_assist|nid=16475|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=84]Yesterday was the day of the Ron Johnson Moneybomb. The idea was like the moneybombs that other candidates have run, where the goal is to collect as much money as possible from grassroots donations in one day. Russ Feingold's Cheddarbomb a short while back raised about $436,000 from over 15,000 donors all over the U.S.
Johnson's moneybomb yesterday was up to about $50,000 when I last looked (note - final number is about $68,000), and this morning the fundrasing thermometer seems to have completely disappeared. Making it more of a money firecracker, I guess. So - tell me 'bout that enthusiasm gap again?
Actually I think this speaks more to the differences between the two campaigns in general. As of the most recent reports, Feingold had raised over 12 million dollars from individual contributions, which is 91% of his funds raised. Johnson had raised about 1.6 million from individual contributions, which is 27% of his money. Most of Johnson's money has come from Johnson himself (71%) and none of Feingold's was self-donated. So in a sense,for Johnson to suddenly try to go to the well of his supporters wasn't likely to reap great benefits after he had kept making the point that he was trying to fund the campaign on his own. The end result is that Feingold has raised more than twice as much money as Johnson, even including Johnson's self-funding efforts (though of course the money coming from outside groups for campaign advertising this month more or less evens this out in this business-driven election cycle).