Tom Fudge: If money were votes, the race for the Democratic presidential nomination would be over. Nobody seems to know quite how much c38aign money Barack Obama raised last month. But it was more than $50 million. Some speculate it could be as much as $60 million.
Well, money is not votes. If it were, Steve Francis would be sure to unseat incumbent Jerry Sanders in the San Diego mayor's race. But the ability of a c38aign to raise money says something about the extent and the depth of support a candidate has. There's also the question of how c38aign money is best spent. TV commercials were, at one time, the big ticket item you had to focus on. But today's media environment is much changed, and that says something about the effectiveness of broadcast c38aign ads.
- Anthony Corrado , Charles A. Dana professor of government at Colby College , and an expert in c38aign finance.
- Mark Fabiani , former deputy c38aign manager for communications and strategy for Al Gore's presidential c38aign in 2000. Mark also served as special counsel to President Bill Clinton from 1994 to 1996.
