| March 30, 2003
Erin Fitzgerald in an article on campaign funding in the Kansas City Star on March 20, 2003, makes the misleading statement:
"In the Ward 5 race, Dina Fisk and John Thompson raised about the same amount of money, but Fisk spent about $2,500 more than Thompson."
In fact, Fisk raised more than twice as much as Thompson: $11,437 vs $5,050. More than 2/3 of Fisk's money was contributed by development related special interests. Almost all of Thompson's contributions came from family members.
What Fitzgerald has done, and she does state this, is to use figures only from the second campaign funding report which was recently filed. She did not include contributions disclosed in an earlier report which contained the bulk of Fisk's contributions. Those funds could be used in both the Primary and the General Election. This might explain why Fisk's spending is so far ahead of Thompson's - Fisk had the money in hand after having raised more than 23 times the amount Thompson had as shown in the first disclosure statement: $7,030 v $300.
The KC Star has endorsed Fisk.
The KC Star also endorsed Dan Carbery over Ron Williams in Ward 6. As it turns out, Williams' fundraising for the first and second reports outpaced Carbery's at the same rate both times: 3 to 1. Williams raised a total of $16,525 vs Carbery's $5,821. Like Fisk, Williams got most of his money from development special interests, 90% in his case.
Both Fisk and Williams show many of the same contributors, prime examples being the huge Las Vegas, Nevada based developer Spanos Corporation and the Kansas City, MO, based law firm of Polsinelli, Shalton, and Welte along with its attorneys.
It's interesting that so many developers have so strongly endorsed both Fisk and Williams, yet the KC Star has endorsed Carbery and Fisk without giving any adequate explanation of why they support Fisk and don't support Williams.
My personal feeling is that the KC Star is simply trying to endorse the winner of the race. Another personal feeling is that they are going to be surprised in the Thompson/Fisk race.
Bob Phillips' prediction (it's free, take it for what it's worth): Thompson is about to pull a major upset and win Ward 5. He has personally left leaflets at and knocked on thousands of doors in that Ward. It has been an unbelievable effort on his part and indications are it is paying off well. People who listen to Thompson in person say they support him and will vote for him, both to his face and to others who visit them later. As Carbery demonstrated when he won the Primary overwhelmingly, buying thousands of signs does not hold a candle to knocking on thousands of doors and actually talking with your neighbors.
I hope I am right!
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