Why Money Won't Matter: Fund-Raising at This Stage Is a Fancy Poll. You Can Have Half as Much Cash as the Next Guy and Still Win. the Issue: Clark's Political Skills

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Byline: Jonathan Alter

If Wes Clark goes nowhere, you can already hear the tired punditry: He didn't have enough cash. He started too late. Blah, blah, blah. This analysis has already begun, though it is close to meaningless. Let's start with the money. In the primary season, fund-raising is mostly just a fancy and not terribly accurate poll--a way to measure support among the wealthy and, with the Internet, the passionate. You can have half as much money as the next guy and still win because, unlike Senate campaigns, presidential contests are fought out in the "free media," where live-TV skills trump paid ads. Money helps build a field organization that can cushion later missteps, but it's the symptom, not the cause, of success. I've seen candidates win Super Tuesday …