Cash Poor, These Candidates Should Quit

Third-quarter fundraising for the 2008 presidential candidates has wrapped up, and as money provides a good gauge for the continued viability of a candidate, some candidates need to consider hanging it up.

Frankly, Congressman Duncan Hunter (R., Calif.) and Senators Joe Biden (D. Del.), Sam Brownback (R., Kan.), Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Tom Tancredo (R., Colo.) need to get back to work.

The overall picture for the race proves positive for the Democrats as the top four Dems raised more than $50 million, but big questions remain for the top Republicans. However, the summer slowdown affected all of the campaigns except for Sen. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.), who led all candidates with a blowout quarter.

Hillary Clinton's campaign has successfully commandeered the news cycle over the last few weeks with her health plan and appearances on the Sunday talking-heads shows.

Some media elites seemed unsettled by the attention. The New York Times joined Tim Russert's effort to revolt against her media dominance. The negative coverage began with a piece by staff writer Adam Nagourney on the vulnerability of being a front-runner, followed by Patrick Healy's flop on Clinton's laughter. The Times' op-ed columnists -- Gail Collins, Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich -- threw fire bombs reminiscent of the 2000 election's similar attacks on Al Gore.

But Sen. Clinton gets the last laugh for now. Her campaign strategically waited an extra day to release her big third-quarter numbers. Clinton announced over 100,000 new donors, $22 million for the primary and another $5 million for the general election. It seems Clinton has answered some of the doubters on the sidelines who worry about her "electability."