Nothing ventured....nothing gained.

As we've seen throughout the past few months, incumbent political office holders are suffering from not only low poling data but a lack of financial support for their political futures. Note today's Lowell Sun article referencing the mediocre treasury of incumbent Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. The opportunity for new candidates to capitalize on the public's desire for new leadership is significant, anb Boston Strategies will place you on a firm footing for full media coverage.

Deep pockets may decide governor's race
By Matt Murphy, mmurphy@lowellsun.com
Updated: 08/23/2009 06:35:39 AM EDT


BOSTON -- As the unofficial end to summer approaches, Gov. Deval Patrick will visit Martha's Vineyard this week in an attempt to bolster his bank account as he prepares for what looks to be a challenging re-election campaign in 2010.

Money for the race could become important as the field of candidates takes shape and looks to include an incumbent Democrat, a CEO, a self-made millionaire and a newly minted Independent with a hefty stockpile of campaign funds.

The economic climate could also put a dent in political fundraising across the board, according to professionals, as former big donors have less to give and smaller benefactors are more reluctant to part with their hard-earned cash.

Patrick's seaside soiree comes as some Democratic fundraisers and consultants are privately expressing concern that the governor has not been able to stash more cash over the past two-and-a-half years.

The diminutive war chest, they suggested, invites confidence among his challengers that they can compete financially with the incumbent Democrat next year.

Campaign-finance records show Patrick with just over $525,000 in the bank as of mid-August.

"I'm surprised, frankly," said one Democratic fundraising consultant, who requested anonymity because of his business. "No incumbent statewide candidate should have $600,000 in the bank heading into an election year. Deval can easily turn around and raise $1 million by the end of the year, but that still invites


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people to think you're vulnerable."
Patrick spent more than $8 million in 2006, the year he first ran for governor.

Treasurer Tim Cahill is expected to announce whether he will run for governor as an independent some time after Labor Day, but the Quincy politician already has $577,000 in his campaign account and another $2.3 million squirreled away in a separate campaign savings account.

Republican Christy Mihos has raised over $60,000 since July 1, but has access to significant personal wealth and has shown he is not shy about tapping it.

Charlie Baker, the other Republican in the race and the former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim, raised $23,100 in one day on July 31.

Patrick aides, however, said they are not worried.

"We are confident we will have the funds necessary to wage an aggressive and successful campaign," said Steve Crawford, the spokesman for the Patrick campaign committee.

Patrick's low balance is not necessarily an indication of his fundraising prowess. The governor has aggressively spent money in non-election years, spending over $514,000 this year alone building up his grassroots operation.

Patrick will also be able to share the nearly $1.2 million account his running mate, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, has built since taking office. It also appears he will not have a primary challenge, allowing him to save resources for the general election.

The governor's Oak Bluffs fundraiser at the home of Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay CEO Deborah Jackson and her husband Duane on Friday will give Patrick access to a community of deep-pocketed donors.

Though President Barack Obama will also be on the Vineyard this week, Crawford said he had "no indication" that Obama might stop by.

The fall will likely see a ramping up of efforts by all candidates to raise funds for next year's race before the real campaigning begins, and Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket could be ground zero until the leaves start to turn.

"That's where the money is," said Michael Goldman, a Democratic consultant and informal adviser to Patrick. "This is the time of year when all you do down there is go from event to event and pay money."

Raising money in other parts of the state, however, could prove to be more difficult for all candidates thanks to the still slumping economy and lack of jobs.

"I think I'd be lying if I said it hasn't been more challenging," said Vann Snyder, a fundraising consultant who worked on former Gov. Michael Dukakis' presidential campaign. "There's a lot of people who used to have money who don't now, and a lot of industry people who just aren't giving," Despite his hefty campaign account now, Snyder said Cahill could face a particularly challenging landscape following his decision to leave the Democratic party and potentially run as an independent.

Cahill, in switching his enrollment, leaves behind a reliable base of Democratic supporters and created the challenge for himself of convincing donors that he has a chance to win.

"Raising money will be very difficult for him, in my opinion," Snyder said. "He's been able to raise money because of the Democratic Party and his office as treasurer. This might open him up to more Republicans, but the Republicans are going to have a spirited primary of their own and without a vested interest in Cahill he will have to convince them he can win."

Dick Morris, Mihos' chief political consultant and a former adviser to President Bill Clinton, this week blamed Mihos' independent status in the 2006 election as the reason his client lost.

Morris said Mihos will be able to topple both Baker and Patrick this time around running as a Republican because of his opposition to Big Dig spending and the "considerable financial advantage" the multimillionaire brings to the campaign.

Though Patrick spent more than $10 million in his first run for governor from 2005 through 2006, the governor had just $277,368 in the bank at this same point in time in the race.

Aides to Baker say the Republican hopes to raise $12 million for his first run for public office.

State Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh said the party will also be there to support Patrick financially as the nominee and likely will have more fundraising power in the blue Massachusetts than the Republicans.

"We will raise a lot of money for the Democratic nominee. We will work as hard as we can to support that effort," Walsh said.

The Legislature recently pulled the plug on a unique arrangement between Patrick's campaign and the party called the Seventy-First Fund that allowed Patrick to raise $5,500 at a time from donors, accepting the maximum $500 donation for himself and sending $5,000 to the Democratic Party.

The party, in turn, helped Patrick pay campaign expenses by donating nearly $630,000 of in-kind contributions to Patrick's campaign between 2007 and 2008.

Though the systematic fundraising partnership is no longer allowed under state campaign finance rules, the Democratic Party can and will continue to support its candidates financially.

"We will aggressively continue to do that