July 30, 2007
On The Download: Million Dollar Web Campaigns
It's time to welcome Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney to the million-dollar club, as both presidential candidates have now spent at least $1 million on their Internet operations so far this year.
A survey of Federal Election Commission records compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.com also showed that Rudy Giuliani spent at least $782,205, John McCain spent at least $646,601, and Barack Obama spent at least $485,400.
But a single number does not tell the full story about a campaign's online operation -- even if that number follows a dollar sign. One of the biggest trends to come out of these reports is the blurring line between an Internet team, a communications shop and the rest of the campaign, as many staffers do double duty and grassroots fundraising becomes almost synonymous with online fundraising.
Many political Internet experts say that by the 2009-2010 election cycle, there no longer will be Internet departments because Web staffers will be fully integrated into every other section of the campaign war room.
Below are the details on how much the presidential campaigns of 2008 have spent on their online operations in the first two financial-reporting quarters, according to FEC records compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.com. The list is organized from the most expenditures to the least.
(A single asterisk notes that despite a request for more information, the information could not be confirmed, though at least one source with knowledge of the staffers confirmed their status. A double asterisk notes that the person or company is known to no longer be on the campaign's payroll.) [SHIRA TOEPLITZ]
Joe Biden
Firms ($64,076 total): NGP Software, Inc. ($33,697), GetActive Software Inc. ($12,945), Advocacy Inc. ($9,965), Articulated Man Inc. ($7,469).
Staff ($50,137 total): Eric Carbone, Joel Meister, Timothy Westmyer.
Minimum total spent on internet-related expenditures: $114,213.
Hillary Clinton
Firms ($1,207,730 total): NGP Software, Inc ($700,725), Mayfield Strategies ($507,005).
Staff ($178,400 total): Jesse Berney, Peter Daou, Nancy Eiring, Sarah Foy*, Recardo Gibson*, Jess O'Connell*, Crystal Patterson, Kevin Thurman.
Minimum total: $1,386,130.
Chris Dodd
Firms ($4,384 total): Wired for Change ($2,800), Pair Networks ($1,584).
Staff ($65,529 total): Tim Cullen, Matt Browner-Hamlin, Erik Moe, Tim Tagaris.
Minimum total: $69,913.
John Edwards*
Firms ($312,607 total): Plus Three, LP ($167,214), NGP Software, Inc. ($69,393), Matthew Gross Communications ($45,000), Advocacy Inc ($18,600), Care2.com Inc ($10,000), Advomatic LLC ($2,400).
Staff ($135,398 total): Ryan Alexander**, Ben Brandzel, Amanda Marcotte**, Melissa McEwan **, Aaron Myers, Amy Rubin, Tracy Russo, George Stern.
Other: Auburn Quad ($40,130).
Minimum total: $448,005.
Dennis Kucinich
Staff ($138,375 total): Michael Criscione, Chad Ely, Karen Kilroy.
Other internet-related expenses ($679): ActBlue.
Minimum total: $139,054.
Barack Obama
Firms ($223,802 total): NGP Software, Inc. ($97,039), Brightcove ($67,168), Blue State Digital ($59,595).
Staff ($155,767 total): Scott Goodstein, Sam Graham-Felson, Chris Hughes, Jon Jones, Chris Northcross, Josh Orton, Luke Peterson, Udai Rohhegi, Joe Rospars, Jessica Slider.
Other internet-related expenses ($105,831 total): Auburn Quad ($61,608), Google Adwords ($23,229), Hitwise ($13,000), Webster Strategies ($7,994).
Minimum total: $485,400.
Bill Richardson
Firms ($135,848 total): Articulated Man ($36,455), Blue State Digital ($26,230), Rock Coast Media ($25,000), NGP Software, Inc. ($24,100), Care2.com Inc ($17,500), Anne Lewis Strategies LLC ($6,563).
Staff ($28,368 total): Joaquin Guerra, Andrea Johnson, Seth Tanner.
Other internet-related expenses: Auburn Quad ($10,467).
Minimum total: $164,216.
Sam Brownback
Firms ($119,627 total): ElectionEdge US ($72,000), Aristotle International ($47,627).
Staff ($5,500 total): Leon Wolf.
Minimum total: $125,127.
Rudy Giuliani
Firms ($741,727): Opera New Media LLC
Staff ($40,478): Kathryn Harbath, Ted Jarrett, Patrick Ruffini**.
Minimum total: $782,205.
Mike Huckabee
Firms ($34,314): LCM Strategies ($20,488), GSL Solutions, Inc (13,826)**,
Staff ($3,615 total): Vincent Harris, Zach Taylor.
Minimum total: $37,929.
Duncan Hunter
Firms ($70,231 total): ElectionMall Technologies ($34,983), TCV Media ($26,500), Aristotle Intl ($8,748).
Staff ($2,841 total): John Hawkins, Sam Hunter.
Minimum total: $73,072.
John McCain*
Firms ($456,529 total): 3EDC ($339,940), Campaign Solutions ($86,589), New Media Strategics ($30,000).
Staff ($38,844 total): Christian Ferry.
Other: EDonation.com ($151,228). McCain's campaign also reported a debt of $721,066 to 3EDC.
Minimum total: $646,601
Ron Paul
Firms ($53,434 total): Bill Dumas Productions ($50,284), Terra Eclipse Media Design ($3,150).
Staff ($14,688 total): Justine Lam.
Minimum total: $68,122.
Mitt Romney
Firms ($1,305,019 total): Molecular ($803,523), Salesforce.com ($345,268), MediaForge ($109,000), Diginovations ($47,228)
Staff ($98,055 total): Abby Brack, Gary Coby, Mindy Finn, Andrew Goodrich, Larry Simmons, Stephen Smith.
Minimum total: $1,403,074.
Tom Tancredo
Firms ($71,119): Aristotle International Inc ($70,219), Six Apart ($900).
Staff ($2,974): Mike Tate.
Minimum total: $74,093.
Tommy Thompson*
Firms ($22,466 total): Maelstrom Solutions ($14,466), Aristotle Inc ($8,000).
Minimum total: $22,466.
Posted at 03:46 PM
Comments
You do know that NGP isn't "web spending" right? It's campaign finance reporting software and has zero to with a campaign's online presence. It shouldn't be included.
palmetoe | 07.30.07 04:58 PM
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So why not write the conclusion? Why not say which candidate got the most for their bucks so far?
Why not say which candidate has the most support from us geeks on the internet?
We All know who it is - Why not just say it in the article?
punter | 07.31.07 10:01 AM
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Nope, NGP should count. Their software can be used for web fundraising and some other web tools. They definitely should be counted as internet cost.
dcyoung | 07.31.07 11:50 AM
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Why are there asterisks* next to Edwards, McCain, and Thompson's name? I can't find any footnote or explanation.
Matt Cowherd | 07.31.07 11:54 AM
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As the story itself says, Matt, about the asterisks:
A single asterisk notes that despite a request for more information, the information could not be confirmed, though at least one source with knowledge of the staffers confirmed their status. A double asterisk notes that the person or company is known to no longer be on the campaign's payroll.)
Pining for Chuck Todd | 07.31.07 02:18 PM
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Most of the NGP spending is for computers, servers, storage and IT on the Clinton front, nothing to do with internet.
frederick | 07.31.07 07:39 PM
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Biden, Edwards & Obama are all idiots for using NGP. The CEO of NGP, Nathaniel Pearlman, is the CTO for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Isn't that a conflict of interest?
NGP has a crappy, web-based contact database that is a .Net front end, with a SQL Server backend. It IS an IT spend and it IS internet based.
There are tons of other companies that are capable of doing the same thing, but the Dems keep spinning their wheels by using the same companies and ideas when more cutting edge things are available.
N Da Know | 09.26.07 10:42 AM
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