I was able to sit in on a conference call with Rudy Giuliani Campaign Director Michael DuHaime and Deputy Campaign Manager for Finance Anne Dunsmore. Here are the highlights:
DuHaime began the proceedings by discussing the tremendous room for growth in the campaign. Team Giuliani has reached 60,000 donors which is impressive considering how much later they started compared with the other campaigns. He added that he feels great about the momentum that the campaign has which is evidenced by the finance numbers catching up to the polling numbers and the fact that Giuliani is the only candidate on the GOP side to better his finance numbers from Q1 to Q2. Rudy is now the polling and fundraising leader.
Zero campaign debt reflect good stewardship of the money that they have been entrusted with by supporters.
DuHaime strongly believes that Rudy is the candidate that is the best positioned to win the Republican nomination and the general election. Mayor Giuliani is leading his Democratic opponents in states like NJ, WA, PA, OR, and CT, and can force the Democratic nominee to have to spend money in expensive states like CA, NY, and IL- which is a claim that only Rudy can make among the GOP Field.
Rudy averaged 30% among the national primary polls released last week and is averaged 26% for June which is 7% higher than his nearest competitor, Fred Thompson.
Rudy’s in 1st place among state polling in CA, NY, NJ, IL, CT, CO, & OK; and is in either 1st or 2nd place in AL, AR, AZ, GA, MO, and WV.
Deputy Campaign Manager in Charge of Finance, Anne Dunsmore, remarked on how proud she is of the volunteers and campaign staff on the ground who were instrumental in Rudy being the only candidate in the GOP field to better his Q2 numbers.
Captain Ed asked if the rate of fundraising had improved considering that the campaign did not really begin until late in Q1. DuHaime responded that the rate of donations was fine and reflective of the fact that they were the one GOP campaign to improve in Q2.
For other roundups of the conference call see:
Eye on ’08
Captains’ Quarters
Ian Schwartz
Jim Geraghty
Michael Goldfarb
July 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Go Rudy!!!
July 5th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I think what Captain Ed pointed to, and what DuHaime dodged was the fact that Rudy supporters had been pointing to Rudy’s impressive haul in March and projecting that into Q2…an outcome that clearly did not happen. The ease of taking money from low-hanging fruit applies to all candidates.
It also sounds like all polls were mentioned except the ones that matter most 7 months from now…was there any mention of state polls in IA/NH, and Rudy’s planned efforts there?
July 5th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Right, low hanging fruits apply to all candidates. Except Rudy didn’t negate his early fundraising with a debt, as Romney did with his, offsetting is $6.5M day in January by mortgaging the exact same amount this last quarter.
July 5th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I have not received any mail solicitations for money from the Rudy camp. If he is yet not asking Republicans for money, then Rudy’s totals were impressive. I get things all the time from McCain and Romney.
July 5th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Pisces11: Rudy’s still doing in-person fundraisers quite intensively. My guess is they are saving direct mail for later.
July 5th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
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July 5th, 2007 at 6:29 pm
Michael is a seasoned political player. If he is at peace with fundraising levels, especially being Q2, then that is good enough for me. In terms of raising funds, the effort thus far has been pretty steady. Though as I have said previously 3Q is going to be the biggie for Rudy. 4Q is traditionally lower for all candidates with campaigning and all— 3Q I expect 23-25 million from Rudy’s campaign.
July 5th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I get fundraising letters from Rudy.
July 6th, 2007 at 12:54 am
You may get fundraising letters from Rudy if you sign into his website.
That, I believe, is quite acceptable.