Rural Georgians Step Up for Edwards

Georgians may be voting red, but, when it comes to presidential politics, we're giving blue. The most recent FEC filings show that in Georgia, for the first two quarters of 2007, Democratic presidential candidates out-raised Republicans by more than half a million dollars.

Though Obama continues to lead the field of Democratic candidates and nip at the heels of Mitt Romney, John Edwards also has some impressive numbers, raising significantly more outside of metro-Atlanta than other Democrats, and in many areas more than the nearest Republican, Mitt Romney. Here are some quick numbers per new FEC interactive site. (They have seriously misplaced Columbus on this map, but otherwise, it really is fun to play with.)

All Candidates: $3,401,717
Democrats: $1,953,545 (57.42%)
Republicans: $1,448,171 (42.57%)
Romney (R): $762,159
Obama (D): $749,544
Edwards (D): $605,513
Clinton (D): $402,586
Giuliani (R): $360,250

Giving Outside Metro-Atlanta (sample)

Middle Georgia (312xx)
Total: $60,525
Edwards: $49,150
Romney: $4,000
Obama: $2,267
Clinton: $ 500

Middle Georgia (310xx)
Total: $58,030
Edwards: $35,635
Romney: $ 8,250
Clinton: $ 5,195
Obama: $ 250

Columbus (319xx)
Total: $34,906
Edwards: $18,270
Clinton: $8,525
Romney: $ 4,211
Obama: 0

Savannah (314xx)
Total: $72,734
Edwards: $19, 174
Romney: $16,925
Obama: $6,965
Clinton: 0
(Dodd also raised $18,400 in this zip)

Athens (306xx)
Total: $63,489
Edwards: $26,889
Romney: $18,300
Clinton: $7,675
Obama: $2,375

This is cross-posted at Georgia Women Vote!

This Was a Cool Tool

Back last year when Edwards was in Atlanta for his book signing, a photographer snapped away as Edwards greeted each person. Then, you were given a card with a website where the photo could be viewed and copied. The catch was that to enter the site, you registered with your email address and were given the option of providing a cellphone #. I did that and now get text message alerts from the Edwards folks on a semi-regular basis. Today's message was a little different, though, and it had Joe Trippi's fingerprints all over it. I got a text message that said Sen. Edwards wanted to talk to me and would call if I hit reply or called a number that was provided. I took the bait. The call was a recorded message from Edwards that spoke to the importance of giving before the end of the quarter (it really, really is important, and you should do it now), and offered to connect me to a volunteer so that I could make a donation, if only I would press '1.'

This is innovative, and a very cool tool- a robo-call the voter chooses to receive.

Edwards Raises More Than 14 Million

CNN is reporting the good news that John Edwards has raised more than $14 million dollars in the first quarter, exceeding the campaign's budget for the year. More than 80% of the contributions were $100 or less, a significant indicator of the depth of his support. Here are some of the significant numbers reported by the campaign:

- More than $14 million raised total

- More than 40,000 contributors from across the country.

- 80 percent of contributions were $100 or less

- $3.3 million raised from online contributions.

- Around $1 million raised in general election funds.

Hillary Clinton declined to say what portion of her first quarter contributions were general election contributions. Such contributions must be placed in escrow and cannot be spent during the primary. If the candidate does not get the Party's nomination, then those contributions are returned to the donors.