Not a bad three months for Florida's former governor as Jeb Bush raised more than $13 million last quarter. Fellow Floridian Marco Rubio raised just $6 million during the same period.
One could certainly argue that with the Bush family connections he was bound to raise more money than Rubio. And the Rubio folks have been quick to point out that he has $11 million in the bank while Bush has $10 million.
In a message to donors, Bush campaign manager Danny Diaz highlighted what he sees as the campaign status at this stage:
Fundraising:
· We raised $13,384,832 in the third quarter, which is double what Senator Rubio and Carly Fiorina raised in the same time. In the same period in 2011, Governor Romney raised $14.2 million, despite having a much smaller field of competitors.
· The last month of the quarter – September – was our best. We continue to have strong fundraising in October, including events today and tomorrow, which we expect will approach $1 million.
· We have more than $10 million cash on hand in primary dollars alone, and that comes after substantial investments in data and grassroots operations across the February and March states, as well as paid advertising in New Hampshire
· The Right to Rise Super PAC has $33 million reserved for advertising in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The only other committee with reservations that even approach that amount is Senator Rubio and The Associated Press recently reported that with his current cash on hand he “cannot afford the space he has reserved.”
Investments & Priorities:
· Secretary Hillary Clinton is putting together a massive data and grassroots operation that her campaign believes will be pivotal and determinative in the outcome of the general election contest. Any campaign that is legitimately seeking the presidency must be able to compete with the Democrats. There are very few GOP campaigns committed to building a real infrastructure and among those we are confident ours is best in class. Some highlights in data and grassroots organization:
Data:
· We have a database of approximately 260 million individuals with about 3,000 data points (e.g. hunting interest, magazine subscriptions, online habits, etc.). We also have more than 30,000 tags built off of previous identification efforts and have made hundreds of thousands of calls into early state voters.
· This data is being used to provide detailed MicroTargeting profiles of voters in key primary states. We know exactly which Republicans are the most likely to vote and what issues matter to them
· We are running thousands of simulated Election Days using the data we have collected in order to game out different scenarios and better allocate resources.
Ground Game:
· Jeb 2016 has made more than one million voter contacts.
· We have hundreds of volunteers who have already committed they will travel to the early states to turn out the vote for Jeb.
· In the early states, news organizations and independent local leaders have noticed Jeb’s organization.
o Iowa – 10 paid staffers, 2 offices – Jeb’s organization “is strongest on the ground now.”
o New Hampshire – 12 paid staffers, 1 office – “Jeb grows ground operation, biggest in the state.”
o South Carolina – 7 paid staffers, 2 offices – Expanded presence in South Carolina.
o Nevada – 8 paid staffers, 2 offices – “When you ask voters in Nevada which campaign they are hearing from, the most common answer is Bush.”
· We are going to build on this formidable organization in the early states, increasing staff and resources there as we approach the caucuses and primaries.
· We’ve also invested in March states. CNN as well as other outlets have reported on our on-the-ground presence in SEC states and other key early battlegrounds, such as Illinois and Michigan.
Polling:
· Voters in Iowa and New Hampshire are notoriously late deciders. In 2012, Rick Santorum won Iowa having just 2% in October. In New Hampshire, exit polls showed 46% made their decision the week before the election.
· This is a state-by-state campaign and, in New Hampshire and Iowa, the most recent public survey has us leading the other candidates who have previously held public office (3rd in NH, 4th in IA) including Senator Rubio and Governors Kasich and Christie, who have all had substantial paid advertising on their behalf in the early states.
· And when looking at the key attributes in deciding whom to support, Jeb stands head and shoulders above most other candidates. For example, 78% of Republican primary voters say Jeb “has the right kind of experience to be president”, 76% say he is “honest and trustworthy” and 76% say he “has the right kind of temperament and personality to handle an international crisis.”
Other Indicators: