1115.org

The Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Cooper and Susan Davis reported on Friday that fundraising hadn’t gone too well for Barack Obama in June:

June fund-raising for Sen. Obama appears to be falling below the expectations of some supporters. The campaign hasn’t released its June numbers, but people close to the fund-raising operation say the total will likely be just over $30 million. While this isn’t a poor showing, it is an underwhelming haul for a campaign that has ballooned in recent months, has promised a true, 50-state electioneering effort and has told its biggest fund-raisers that it wants to collect $300 million in general-election cash by mid-October.

The Post’s Matthew Mosk added:

The fundraising machine Sen. Barack Obama is relying on to overwhelm Sen. John McCain this fall has shown signs of wear in recent weeks, as Internet contributions have slowed and efforts to recruit top donors to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign have been beset by lingering tensions.

The Obama campaign’s response at the time was essentially a “shame-on-you-guys!”:

The Wall Street Journal report of our fundraising numbers is way off the mark. It appears that after 18 months, some in the press still haven’t realized that anyone who is talking about numbers doesn’t know what our numbers are.

Maybe some in the press realized it today:

Sen. Barack Obama Thursday morning announced his second largest fundraising haul since becoming a presidential candidate — $52 million during the month of June.

It was the first release of donation figures since the Illinois senator and presumptive Democratic nominee became the first major party candidate to opt out of the public financing system for the general election.

It also rivaled his best month of $55 million raised in February, suggesting donors opened their wallets once it was clear he would be the nominee.

The campaign said the average June donation was $68 — bolstering Mr. Obama’s argument that he has created a new public financing system with his own presidential run, attracting more grassroots support than big-money donors and refusing money from lobbyists and political action committees.

The funny thing is that McCain raised $22 million in June. Cooper and Davis reported that Obama would raise “just over $30 million”. He actually raised $30 million more than McCain or, if you will, $30 million over McCain.

I wonder if either Cooper and Davis or their source was just a little drunk at the time that person close to the fund-raising operation gave them the scoop?

Come to think of it, dead drunk journalists would explain a lot of the inexplicable coverage we have seen of the 2008 election so far, wouldn’t they?