Years ago, I was treasurer for a vibrant young church. Every year, we would have our pledge drive and afterwards, we would sit down and try to work out the budget. It was always tight. There was never enough money to do all the programs we wanted. Some worried that the church had no endowment, but lived year to year on the donations of the members and by faith. The priest often quipped that the church’s endowment was it members. The church grew and thrived, not because of an endowment or money for programs, but because the members of the church felt passionate about the church and its message and spoke to friends and neighbors about all that was going on.

These memories come back to me as everyone is pouring over the first quarter fundraising numbers for various political races around the country. The amount of money that a candidate raises and the number of donors can reflect the passion supporters have for a candidate or it can reflect an interest in staying in the good graces of the status quo. The money on hand can be used to communicate the candidate’s message, which may or may not be inspiring.

What matters is that people feel passionate about their candidates. This requires candidates that speak truth to power and have fire in their bellies. This is what will get people to spend time passionately talking with their friends, neighbors and relatives about why they support their candidate, and this person to person contact is what we need for a strong vibrant democracy. So, money in the bank is important, but fire in the belly is what really counts.