Gephardt pulls in less than expected
Bush swamps rivals
By Sean Loughlin and Robert Yoon
CNN Washington Bureau
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Rep. Dick Gephardt
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Senator John Kerry is king of the hill among Democratic presidential hopefuls in money raised so far this year, but his war chest still looks like a piggy bank compared to Bush's. CNN's Candy Crowley reports (July 16)
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Disappointing news for Richard Gephardt, good news for Howard Dean -- and really good news for President Bush.
That's the upshot of the second-quarter fund-raising reports that the 10 major presidential campaigns filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Gephardt, who is in his second presidential race, collected $3.8 million between April and June -- about $1.1 million less than aides predicted he would collect. The less-than-expected haul for the U.S. representative from Missouri prompted his campaign to reach out to party activists, assuring them that Gephardt remained very much a strong contender.
"I think it would be a mistake to underestimate him," said Erik Smith, a spokesman for the campaign. Smith said the candidate's message is not the problem, but acknowledged some changes are planned for the fund-raising organization.
As expected, Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, enjoyed the most lucrative second quarter among Democrats, hauling in $7.6 million and relying heavily on the Internet to reach some donors.
Meanwhile, Bush flexed his fund-raising muscle, collecting about $34.4 million -- a sum that surpasses the total fund raising of all nine Democratic rivals. And the president doesn't even have any primary opposition.
"His money advantage is impressive," said Stu Rothenberg, editor and publisher of the Rothenberg Political Report. But Rothenberg cautioned it would be wrong to conclude that Bush's financial strength makes him invincible in 2004.
"If we've got unemployment climbing over 7 percent and above, if we have continuing casualties in Iraq and if we have new doubts about the president's credibility, all the money in the world isn't going to save him," Rothenberg said. "George Bush isn't there ... but his money advantage does not guarantee his re-election."
On the Democratic side, Rothenberg said the pressure is on Gephardt to have an impressive fund-raising cycle in the next few months.
"Gephardt now has an additional burden, financially, for the third quarter," Rothenberg said.
