On Hardball, Barnicle relied on misleading NY Times article to assert that Obama has raised more from big donors than McCain

Written by Ryan Chiachiere

Published

On Hardball, Mike Barnicle asserted, “Barack Obama's campaign credits small donors as the big reason for their big fundraising numbers. ... So, how much has Obama raised from people who gave at least $1,000? One hundred and twelve million dollars.” He later added, “That's one-third of Obama's total haul: $112 million. That's more than John McCain.” But while Barnicle noted that about one-third (actually, 36.4 percent) of Obama's contributions come from contributors giving $1,000 or more, he did not note that nearly three fourths -- 74.3 percent -- of McCain's contributions come from contributors giving $1,000 or more.

On August 6, Hardball guest host and MSNBC political analyst Mike Barnicle asserted, “Barack Obama's campaign credits small donors as the big reason for their big fundraising numbers, but according to today's New York Times, Obama's not hurting for money from the fat cats -- the rich people. So, how much has Obama raised from people who gave at least $1,000? One hundred and twelve million dollars.” He later added, “That's one-third of Obama's total haul: $112 million. That's more than John McCain, even more than Hillary Clinton managed to raise in her campaign. Obama's $112 million from big-time donors.” But as Media Matters for America noted in responding to The New York Times' misleading report, while Obama has raised more money than McCain in donations of $1,000 or more, McCain's donations of $1,000 or more constitute a much higher percentage -- 74.3 -- of overall donations than Obama's, which constitute 36.4 percent of his total donations. Barnicle did not note this.

From the August 6 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

BARNICLE: Time now for tonight's Hardball “Big Number”: Barack Obama's campaign credits small donors as the big reason for their big fundraising numbers, but according to today's New York Times, Obama's not hurting for money from the fat cats -- the rich people. So, how much has Obama raised from people who gave at least $1,000? One hundred and twelve million dollars: tonight's Hardball “Big Number.”

That's one-third of Obama's total haul: $112 million. That's more than John McCain, even more than Hillary Clinton managed to raise in her campaign. Obama's $112 million from big-time donors -- tonight's big number.