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Fun with numbers

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Illinois

* Sen. Daniel Biss was on The Young Turks show the other day…

“We have been able to raise serious money, millions of dollars by having literally thousands and thousands of people from hundreds of towns across Illinois contribute.”

This sort of thing plays well with the people at TYT because they loved them some Bernie Sanders. According to Politifact, 44 percent of Bernie’s individual contributions (which excludes political action committee cash) came from contributions of $200 or less. Without the help of any joint fundraising committees, Sanders’ small-dollar total was 58 percent of his individual contributions.

* Since April 1st of last year (a few days after he filed his gubernatorial D-1), Sen. Biss has reported raising $2,946,368.43 (one of the reasons Biss entered this quarter with over $3 million in the bank is because he started his statewide campaign last year with $1.6 million cash on hand).

Anyway, of that $2.95 million he’s raised, $2,622,515.25 came from individual contributions.

Of that, $271,742.48 have been small-dollar contributions that weren’t itemized. He itemized another $54,850.28 in contributions of $150 or less (contributions in excess of $150 must be reported).

So, his small-dollar contributions totaled $326,592.76 since he got into the race, about 12.5 percent of his total raised. Up that to $200 (to equalize it with the Bernie numbers) and it works out to $358,653.48, or 13.7 percent of his total.

By contrast, Biss’ individual contributions of $10,000 or more totaled $1,241,600, or 47 percent of his total from individuals.

Individual contributions to Biss of $1,000 or more totaled $2,218,177.18, or 84.6 percent of his total raised.

* I do not doubt that Biss will raise lots more small-dollar contributions now that MoveOn.org’s Illinois members have voted to endorse him.

But, so far anyway, he’s no Bernie.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:38 am

Comments

He’s no Bernie…
So he hasn’t “lost” and no house has been offered yet?
Not hatin, just sayin.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:46 am
ugh the young turks are THE WORST

Comment by Natty_B Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:49 am
My condolences to the Pritzker staffer who spent four hours computing the numbers necessary to combat a throwaway Biss talking point.

Comment by The Captain Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:50 am
===My condolences to the Pritzker staffer who spent===

I did the work on this after watching the video that was linked on Twitter. So, bite me.

When I post oppo, I reveal it.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:56 am
It’s also not a throwaway talking point - it’s central to the whole Biss brand.

Comment by Natty_B Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:58 am
==I did the work on this after watching the video that was linked on Twitter.==

Thank you for doing the math. It would be interesting to apply the same standard to each of the candidates. I wonder who actually has the highest % of small donors and % small donor dollars. It is probably one of the low money candidates.

So, Rich, if you’re looking for something to do this afternoon…

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:00 pm
–By contrast, Biss’ individual contributions of $10,000 or more totaled $1,241,600, or 47 percent of his total from individuals.–

That’s quite a network of big hitters.

On Biss’ D-2, you have to wade through a lot of contributions of $10, $27.04 and $38.76 to find them.

For example, Carol Brummel of Aurora contributed $3 on New Year’s Eve (geez, that sounds very sad).

If Biss wants to get bona fide on his little guy credentials, maybe he should go full Homer Stokes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtzWkKxVlBU

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:08 pm
===But, so far anyway, he’s no Bernie.===

And the monetary balances and distribution is only one way Biss is not Bernie, but it’s not all Biss’ fault.

Bernie had national cable news daily allowing earned media a a very high clip. Biss has none of that advantage in a statewide race, allowing voters to “forget” about him in ways Bernie never worried about leaving the country’s conscious.

Also, the rock star touring, Biss can mimmick it in a sole state, statewide race, but how large, right now, can these back to back to back crowds get?

Bernie filled basketball arenas.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:09 pm
I am in awe of Daniel’s rebrand.

Comment by Come on, Man! Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:11 pm
Just looking at the A1s, it’s crystal clear that what he said wasn’t true. He’s taking lots of checks of $50 and $100k as well as the big money from the Springfield folks. It’s fine but let’s not pretend otherwise.

Comment by Anon0091 Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:12 pm
=Bernie had national cable news daily allowing earned media a a very high clip. Biss has none of that advantage in a statewide race, allowing voters to “forget” about him in ways Bernie never worried about leaving the country’s conscious.=

Agree, Bernie was the “other candidate” for nearly the entire primary in a year when everyone was paying attention.

But 47% is still pretty solid in this environment. Of course the converse of that is that in Illinois, you expect labor and big donors to be the major share of any serious candidate for statewide dem office so the 47% shows how much he has failed to catch on.

With Kennedy out of the media cycle right now it could be a whole new world. We’ll see.

Comment by m Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:21 pm
I’m sure all the pensioners that Biss tried to screw with his support of the Speakers pension rip off will contribute! (Snark) That Biss sure is a friend of the worker!

Comment by Old and In The Way Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:36 pm
Free college. Healthcare for all. More K-12 money..lower taxes for working poor and middle classes. This guy is a math wizard

Comment by Blue dog dem Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:48 pm
==- Rich Miller - Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 11:56 am:==

This couldn’t have taken you, or a Pritzker staffer, “hours” either.

Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 12:53 pm
==he’s no Bernie.==

The Biss campaign in a nutshell…

Comment by Century Club Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 2:00 pm
I’m a worker and think pensions need to be canned.

Comment by Ron Thursday, Jan 25, 18 @ 5:32 pm