I got into a bit of hot water recently by comparing the performance of two Democratic campaigns in a primary; and in that same spirit, let's do another comparison, this time in the 25th District.

First, incumbent Marty Connor, under a headline that reads in part Momentum Builds for Senator’s Surging Re-Election Campaign:

New York, New York – July 15, 2008: Senator Martin Connor’s campaign announced today that it has raised over $120,000 in contributions for the July filing with the New York State Board of Elections.

“We are grateful for the extraordinary financial support Senator Connor has received in the last few months from every corner of the 25th Senate District. The Senator has a long record of fighting for the families of New York, and people have responded by supporting his re-election. We will have the resources we need to wage an aggressive re-election campaign,” said Chad Marlow, spokesman for Senator Connor’s re-election campaign.

Then, challenger Dan Squadron:

Today, Daniel Squadron, an insurgent candidate for State Senate in the 25th Senatorial District, announced another round of strong fundraising numbers – raising a total of $428,440 from 750 donors with cash on hand of approximately $291,000.

Squadron today also reaffirmed his pledge not to accept contributions from lobbyists, PACs or corporations. "People are hungry for real independence and a focus on working hard to get results – exactly the reason that so many people have gotten behind this effort," Squadron said. "Without accepting contributions from corporations, PACs or lobbyists we have built a strong campaign that will bring the people of the 25th Senate District the independent, progressive representation we so sorely need."

Outraising an incumbent by a factor of over three to one is pretty remarkable, one would think; but if recent commentary is any indication, Connor probably raised vastly superior super-dollars, much as Jimmy Dahroug gathered super-signatures when he came in with 1,400 versus 3,200 for his opponent in SD-3, Brian Foley.

And no, I'm not going to pick on the regrettable usage of the word "surging", except to note that the word is, these days, associated with something of a similar concept in a place called Iraq that doesn't seem to be going all that well.