Thirty Days Hath September

Putting a little perspective into the CD-2 fundraising frenzyThe three Democratic candidates for the CD-2 nomination to Congress — Joan Fitz-Gerald, Jared Polis and Will Shafroth — raised a total of $961,000 in the third quarter of 2007 for their combined campaigns.

There were 92 days in the quarter, meaning that the three campaigns together raised $10,445.65 every day, seven days a week. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies left fielder, makes $11,827.96 a day. The job the three are running for, Congressperson from Colorado, pays $444.09 a day.

There were 2,208 hours in the quarter, which means they raised $435.24 per hour. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Colorado’s minimum wage is $6.85 per hour. Pope Benedict XVI makes $0 per hour. Denver Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony pulls in $1,769.70 every hour, 24/7.

There were 132,480 minutes in the quarter, so while the lives of the rest of us ticked away, our candidates were busy collecting $7.25 cents a minute, 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, calculated on a 24/7 basis, makes 26 cents a minute. Gov. Bill Ritter makes 17 cents a minute. According to some calculations, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates has earned $2,300.55 a minute since 1986 on his Microsoft investment.