When I wrote my chapter on presidential primary campaign finance changes for this volume, I included the following sentence: “In the 2008 campaign, as of August 18, 2008, 534 bundlers raised at least $75,750,000 for McCain, and 509 bundlers raised at least $63,300,000 for Obama. (Center for Responsive Politics 2008.)”
For a new chapter I’m writing on presidential financing (in both the primary and general election periods), I’ve gone back to the CRP web page and notice a dramatic increase in the CRP bundling figures for John McCain: “Together, 540 elites have directed at least $207,200,000 to McCain, and 561 have gathered at least $63,200,000 for Obama.”
The difference is not one based on newly released data. The CRP page reads at the bottom: “Bundlers’ names and ranges based on information available on the candidate’s Web site August 18. Individual contribution data based on data available from the Federal Election Commission on 7/13/09.”
How did the McCain figure go from at least $75 million to at least $207 million?