RALEIGH, N.C. - Elizabeth Edwards’ sobering diagnosis of incurable cancer has triggered a nationwide outpouring of support, including a surge of donations to her husband’s presidential campaign.
The amount of money given to Edwards’ campaign via the Internet has jumped by about 50 percent since the couple announced last week that Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer had returned. Meanwhile, a CBS News poll released Wednesday found that voters by a 2-to-1 margin support Edwards’ decision to continue his campaign.
Since last Thursday, Edwards has collected about $540,000 online, according to a tally by ActBlue.com, which counts all the donations made through the Edwards Web site. It initially took Edwards two months to reach his early online fundraising goal of $1 million, and the campaign had languished just above that mark in the weeks before the cancer announcement.
By comparison, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton easily raised $1 million over the Internet in one week after her husband, former President Bill Clinton, challenged donors at the end of February to help her campaign reach that goal.
Overall, Edwards has raised about $1.7 million online since launching his bid for the Democratic nomination at the end of December.
Chief campaign fundraiser Fred Baron said Wednesday he was “confident” that the campaign would surpass its overall fundraising goal of $7.4 million in the first quarter, but he declined to give specifics. Totals for the quarter will be released in federal campaign finance reports in mid-April.
“The more that people come familiar with John and Elizabeth Edwards and who they are as human beings, the more supportive they are of their campaign,” Baron said. “I’m very pleased with the outpouring of support both financially and otherwise.”
Several political observers have estimated that candidates will need to raise about $100 million by the end of 2007 to compete in the early 2008 primaries. That frantic money race has already forced one candidate, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, to drop out.
Baron said he didn’t expect the Edwards campaign to match the overall fundraising totals of Clinton, or even Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, but that the sum would be enough to stay competitive.
Elizabeth Edwards was first diagnosed with breast cancer shortly before the end of 2004 presidential campaign. After months of therapy, doctors declared her free of cancer. But last week, the couple said that the cancer has returned to her bone in an incurable form, and vowed to continue Edwards’ campaign for the White House.
In an interview with People magazine posted online on Wednesday, Elizabeth Edwards said the cancer does not appear to have spread beyond her bone to any organs. Her doctor estimates she has at least 10 years left to live, she said.
“I just need the medicine to catch up to me,” Edwards told the magazine. “The medicine is going to catch up to this condition - it’s just a question of when.”
Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University, said Edwards’ fundraising, in some ways, can now be compared to a telethon.
“There is a desire on the part of people to support what seems to be a courageous act on the part of Elizabeth Edwards and the kind of attractive teamwork that their press conference showed to the world,” Baker said. “It’s a very touching story, and the same kind of motivation that causes people to reach for their checkbooks.”
Support for the Edwards has appeared in other ways. Elizabeth Edwards has said she received thousands of e-mails of sympathy after the announcement. And when CBS News anchor Katie Couric questioned the couple during a “60 Minutes” interview about their decision to stay in the race, she was criticized on the Internet and elsewhere for being insensitive.
The Edwards campaign is pushing hard to raise as much as possible before the end of the first quarter fundraising period. Campaign manager David Bonior sent a message to supporters Wednesday urging voters to donate before Friday’s “major fundraising deadline.”
“This first test couldn’t be more important,” he wrote, adding that a strong showing is necessary to sustain the campaign’s momentum.
