Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
 Originally Posted By: the G-man
I understand that. But isn't this (fundraising) just one less variable in Hillary's favor vs Obama?


It doesn't seem to be hurting her chances in PA. Obama just can't seem to buy votes there.


hmmm..
From Sunday's L.A. Times:

 Quote:
On one side is the city's aging Democratic apparatus, a collection of pro-Obama ward leaders and committee people whose tools of persuasion are yardsigns, campaign hats, buttons, stickers and "street money" -- cash handed out before the election to juice turnout.

On the other is the Obama campaign team, a network of young aides from out of state who eschew the traditional trappings of a campaign and think that elections turn on intangibles: grass-roots organization and an ever-expanding web of volunteers motivated by a deep belief in the candidate.

The Obama camp isn't bent on planting signs in every yard. Nor is it paying street money to party bosses in hopes that they'll get people to the polls. Instead, the campaign wants to build an efficient and more loyal apparatus by enlisting volunteers who have one agenda: an Obama victory....

For decades, candidates have passed money to city ward bosses, who in turn give it out to the committee people and party loyalists under their jurisdiction. Called street money, it is used for any number of purposes. In its most noble form, it reimburses people for gas, coffee or other legitimate expenses rung up on election day.

But even the system's proponents acknowledge the cash payouts are occasionally abused.

"I bet in those neighborhoods where things are harder you'll find the street money doesn't get used the way it should be," said Dock Brown, 43, a Democratic Party committeeman who lives in Germantown. "It just gets pocketed. You'll find people working both campaigns trying to make as much money as they can."

The Obama campaign has told the local ward bosses they're not paying out street money this year, a position that has stirred criticism. At a time when Obama is pulling in tens of millions of dollars in campaign money every month, the city's ward bosses are mystified. They know he can afford it.


"Maybe in other parts of the country you can come in and you have people who are not really into politics and they're excited about working for a candidate, but Philadelphia is not one of those places," said Betty Townes, a committeewoman from Germantown.

"This is old-time politics here."....


"We always said that we're not going to do politics the way it's always been done because it's always been done that way," Bird said. "In South Carolina, the kind of politics that have always been done there -- give some money to ministers and to some people on election day -- to me is disempowering. Why not build a real grass-roots [model]?"


So the machine politics that Clinton is betting on does quite literally "buy votes". Obama has repudiated that tack. Just because he outspends Hilary on ad and organization, doesn't mean he's buying anyone.