Friday, October 19, 2007

Cox Raises $8,385 in Third Quarter, Spends $12,480

The Third Quarter fundraising and expenditure numbers are out for John Cox's fringe presidential campaign, and it doesn't look good. (read the full PDF here.)

The bad news is that Cox is still and ultra-fringe candidate with little public support.

The good news is.... um... well, he raised more than he did in the last quarter, $1,410.

Cox raised $8,385 from individuals, and loaned himself another $90,000.

He ends the reporting period (10/15) with just $1,963.63 on hand, truly a shameful figure for a presidential campaign. But then again, we have to remember that it's really an ego trip, not really a campaign at all.

Here's some breakdowns of his fundraising for this quarter, which came from a grand total of 21 contributors:
Raised in June: $50
Raised in July: $5,735
Raised in August: $2,375
Raised in Sept: $225

Some facts about these donors:
  • Most are retirees (his campaign seems to feed off retirees who think he's a legitimate candidate, or feel sorry for him)
  • 11 (half) are from Illinois.
  • Two gave the "max", $2300. One was a pathologist from Illinois, the other was an attorney from Illinois.
  • The lowest contribution was for $5, from a Chicago retiree.
  • The head of the Chicago PR firm Cox hired to gin up some excitement about his flagging campaign pitched in $1,000.
  • A Cox relative (named Cox) from Florida gave him one of the two $1,000 donations. He also received a $500 and a $25 donation from Florida. It's unclear if these are from relatives too.
Early state round-up:
Total raised in first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa: $10 (yes, TEN)
Total raised in the first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire: nothing (Chris Richter, what ARE you doing with Cox's money up there?)
Total raised in South Carolina: nothing

Elsewhere:
Connecticut: $25
Idaho: $25
Texas: $45
Missouri: $50
New York: $25
Nebraska: $50

Total raised since filing with the FEC on Feb. 13, 2006 = $21,901.51
Total SPENT since filing: $1,021,334.62 (yes, that's ONE million+)

Notable expenditure: Cox spent $2,500 for a South Carolina media company to produce an EMBARRASSING anti-immigration video, which featured a "Clone Warrior" from Star Wars in order to make a lame joke that was lost on its viewers and gave rise to much ridicule online.

Like a vampire needing blood but not getting it from the proper source, Cox kept his cold, atrophied campaign from rigor mortis, and infused with cash, by giving it his own life-giving money frequently:
$30,000 on 7/31
$25,000 on 8/22
$25,000 on 9/5
$10,000 on 9/20

It also bears mentioning here that the FEC has made TWO requests for clarifications about "odd" entries on Cox's past FEC filings. One they noted included expenses for "child support" in Texas. On who's behalf was Cox paying child support, and why was it from his campaign coffers? One supposes it was a paycheck withholding for an employee, but still, it's an odd entry.