Jeff Woods ponders the significance of Mark Brown's departure from the Cammack for Governor campaign and comes up with the following:
The word in Democratic circles is this: Cammack is toast. His fund-raising is really sucking, and there is talk that he will quit the race soon. Recall Cammack gave heavily to Republicans in the past. That's causing Democratic contributors to give him the stink eye. If Cammack can't raise a respectable amount from contributors, there's no point in sinking his own personal wealth into his campaign.
"Basically, he has no base of support," one source says. "He turned on his old Republican friends, and Democrats don't know him enough to trust him. He doesn't have the time before the primary to build a relationship with Democrats. He won't have the money to get his message out."
Cammack had an uphill battle from the git-go. No name recognition, no campaign history, no real connection to the type of people who typically vote in Democratic primaries. He's got ambition and a rather impressive knowledge of policy, but that could be where his strengths end.
Of course, if I were him, and was about to drop out, I'd probably start canceling upcoming events...like the
Davidson County Democratic Party potluck over at the CWA Union Hall tonight. It doesn't sound like the type of thing Ward would normally do for kicks.
But, assuming Woods' source is correct...where would Cammack's departure leave the race? My feeling is that Kim McMillan has been the most steady of all the other candidates. No major screw-ups are stumbles (like pissing off major Democratic constituencies). She's got a track record, she's got as much or more name recognition as anyone else in the hunt (except Ned Ray's son), the main question for her is going to be dolla dolla bills ya'll. Does she have 'em, and can she get 'em?
Mark your calendars for July 15th, 2009. That will be the day when we really get a good peak into the races on both sides of the aisle. That is when the mid-annual reports are due for candidates running for office, and we can see how much the prospective candidates have raised and spent over the past 6 (or 1 in some cases) months.