PrintOctober 14, 2010
Short Count
One. That's how many individuals from inside Minnesota's 8th Congressional District contributed to incumbent Democrat James Oberstar during last quarter's reporting period of June 22 to September 30. She gave the 18 term incumbent $500.
Two. That's how many other in district contributions in total Oberstar reported according to Politico - $1,000 from a Duluth area PAC and $300 from the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.
That's not to say that Oberstar is lacking in funds. He collected $233,102 in total for the quarter from all around the nation.
We've got plenty of resources to carry through the campaign," Oberstar spokesman John Schadl told POLITICO, noting that Oberstar had more than half a million dollars in the bank at the end of September. According to the Federal Election Commission, Oberstar had $568,222 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter.
One sign this old timer knows he's in trouble is he spent far more than usual on his campaign this year.
Oberstar spent $835,000 in the third quarter of 2010, more than 4 times the roughly $200,000 he spent in the same period last cycle.
That over 99% of this incumbent's current contributions come from outside the district underscores the message of Republican challenger, Chip Cravaack that Oberstar has been in Washington, DC too long and no longer understands the interests of local citizens. Noting that the Congressman hasn't actually lived in the region for decades now, serving for a dozen years on his predecessor's staff before being anointed to take over the seat in 1974, Minnesotan Ed Morrissey at Hot Air quipped
In the final full quarter of the midterm election, Oberstar could only get one actual constituent to donate any money to him at all? Maybe Ms. Robbins is the only one who still remembers Oberstar at all.
