E-mail from the Kerry campaign I just received:
To: Interested Parties
From: Mary Beth Cahill
Date: April 2, 2004
Re: You Broke All the Records!
I am writing to let you know that your achievements, your energy and enthusiasm, will be all over the news this weekend. This morning, I held a conference call with our National Finance Chairman Lou Susman, and our Director of Internet Strategy Josh Ross, in which we briefed the media on John Kerry's first quarter fundraising.
Thanks to you, our campaign has accomplished something that no presidential campaign has ever come close to achieving. We set two new records for any non-incumbent candidate fundraising: In March, our campaign raised $38 million, and over $50 million for the first quarter of 2004.
That's right: $50 million. Make sure to stay tuned and check your email in the next few days -- the fundraising news will just keep coming, and we'll want your input on our next steps.
The Bush campaign set the record for money raised by a non-incumbent in one quarter, $29.7 in the second quarter of 1999. Well, the Kerry Campaign cleared that total by over $20 million.
The Dean Campaign set the Democratic record of $15 million in the last quarter of 2003. We tripled that.
Make no mistake about it, this is a grassroots fundraising achievement driven by hundreds of thousands of people who have opened their hearts and their wallets to support John Kerry. Our message is clear and unambiguous: We're ready to do what it takes to help John Kerry defeat George W. Bush.
So I ask you now to take this simple step: forward this email to your friends and invite them to join our campaign at
http://www.johnkerry.com/signup/ Tell them about the amazing scope of our achievement and tell them that with their help, we will continue to break records in April.
No political campaign has ever raised this much money from this many people in this short a period of time. The people of JohnKerry.com are the top donors to our campaign, contributing over $26.7 million online. That includes a single day grassroots fundraising record of $2.6 million raised online on March 7, 2004.
We're making history. Our campaign is sending a powerful message out all across America. This amazing achievement is just the beginning of what we're going to do together over the course of this campaign.
In April, you will see the fruits of your contributions, from presence on the airwaves to new, improved literature at events and rallies. I'll keep you posted. We're making it clear: we're ready, willing and able to compete and win. Thank you for being such an important part of this history-making accomplishment.