stop the presses: I agree with AdNags!

It is not often I find something to praise in the “news analysis” of New York Times “reporter” Adam Nagourney, but I have to say that my first reaction to first quarter fundraising numbers was the same as his.

Early ’08 Fund-Raising Has Clear Blue Tint

For anyone looking for a sign of the health of the Democratic Party going into the 2008 presidential campaign, it came Wednesday with the last of the fund-raising figures reported by the major presidential candidates.

With the $25 million reported by Senator Barack Obama’s campaign, closing in on Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s $26 million, the Democratic presidential candidates collectively outperformed the Republicans, and by a substantial amount: Democrats raised a total of about $78 million, compared with just over $51 million by their rivals, according to preliminary first-quarter figures provided by the campaigns.

That is remarkable because Republicans have historically proved better at collecting contributions. In every presidential primary season since 1976, the top fund-raiser was a Republican.

I would also like to congratulate AdNags on his use of the terms “enthusiasm gap” and “Bush fatigue”—love those.

However, I can’t let this sweet moment pass without a little taste of sour. On the whole, I dislike the amount of coverage these fundraising numbers are getting. I’m not saying it’s not news—it is—but the coverage of the money race exists in a hermetically sealed bubble completely separate from ideas. It’s as if the positions and policies advocated by candidates have nothing to do with their success.

Well, hmmm, OK, given that Sen. Clinton is leading the pack, maybe that’s true. . . .

But, no, back to the larger point, the point that Democrats are crushing Republicans in the money wars—I think that this does have something to do with the national realization that the GOP is a bad bet—and not just a bad bet to win in ’08. They are a bad bet for business, world peace, domestic security, and America’s place in the world.

Don’t believe me on that last point? Let’s do the numbers:

82 percent say the world is becoming more dangerous for the United States and its people, with 48 percent saying "much more dangerous."

73 percent say the United States is not doing a good job as a leader in creating a more peaceful and prosperous world, with 34 percent saying it has done a "poor" job.

So, as us Dodgers fans like to say: Think Blue!