MFP: Numbers don't help Davis (and neither does opening his mouth)

Like many outstate papers, the Mankato Free Press doesn't publish every article that's in the dead tree edition. A kind friend with a subscription sent us an offline article analysing First District fundraising.  The Free Press had reported earlier that Brian Davis reports $59,000 raised in Q1, and now that the FEC reports are in, does its due journalistic diligence*:

Financial numbers don't help Davis:  Walz enjoys big edge in 1st District re-election campaign

By Mark Fischenich
Free Press Staff Writer 

With detailed numbers now public, Congressman Tim Walz's fund-raising advantage over Republican- endorsed can­didate Dr. Brian Davis of Rochester is actually more daunting.

As previously reported, Walz raised $ 352,000 in the first three months of this year com­pared to $58,491 for Davis. But the full reports to the Federal Elections Commission show that $24,000 of Davis' receipts in the first quarter were a loan he made to his campaign.

And because Davis spent nearly $ 30,000 more during those three months than he raised, even with the loan included, his cash- on- hand declined from $ 80,000 to $ 50,000. Walz, by contrast, saw his campaign balance rise by more than $200,000 to more than $1 million.

State Sen. Dick Day's fund­raising totals are also now on file. While the longtime legisla­tor initially appeared to be run­ning third with just $16,000 in receipts for the quarter, he's actually in a slightly better
position than Davis. Day, R- Owatonna, is hoping to win the GOP nomination inSeptember and be Walz's oppo­nent on Nov. 4.

Because more than half of Davis' receipts were com­prised of his loan to the campaign and a $ 10,000 donation from a political action committee, he brought in less money in individual contributions than Day did. And Day spent much less than Davis. The end result: Day's campaign treasury declined by $24,000 in the first quar­ter and now sits at $72,000 — more than $20,000 high­er than Davis.

What the numbers really show is that the Republican is going to be outspent sub­stantially leading up to elec­tion day, Day said.

" Whoever it is," he said. "If it's me, it's going to be Day against Goliath."

Both Republicans said the first quarter left them at a disadvantage in raising money and they expect to do better in coming months. Davis said he was focused on personal visits with delegates to the 1st District Republican  endors­ing convention.

And Day — who didn't compete for the endorse­ment — was focused on the  legislative session in St. Paul, saying he shies away from seeking large political contributions during the session to avoid any percep­tions that fund- raising might affect the way he votes in the Senate.

For the Republicans, win­ning the primary and the general election will come down to grassroots cam­paigning, Day said.

" We have to convince people just by meeting them and talking to them," he said.

Once again, we see Davis's excuse that he can't talk to delegates and raise money at the same time. Earlier this morning, we noted that three DFL candidates in contested endorsement battles were able to raise $100,000 in Q1 2008--and the top rainmaker, political neophyte Ashwin Madia, was able to secure over $196,000 as well as the endorsement.

Day's practical approach to grassroot campaigning is a sound one. However, his statements suggest that a large war chest and grassroots canvassing are mutually exclusive. Not so: we've arleady seen droves of volunteers doorknocking and making phone calls in their Walz t-shirts.  Walz will have both forces on his side.

[*Note: this post was updated slightly with this additional link and sentence about 12 minutes after it was first posted].

Update: We'll be posting a news and netroots digest later in the afternoon, but now other chores require our attention. The farm bill, shortline rail funding, Cornhusker interns from Mankato and whatever strikes our fancy up later in the day.