OTTAWA - Liberals are heaving a sigh of relief that their donations have not dried up as precipitously as their leader's popularity.
Third-quarter financial results posted by Elections Canada show the Liberals raised $1.9 million from June to the end of September.
That's less than half the $4.5 million sucked in by the cash-hoovering Conservatives.
But Liberals are taking solace in the fact that they pulled in more this year than they did during the same period in 2008 when they were in the midst of an election -- usually the peak fundraising season for political parties.
What's more, they're the only party to have increased their cash intake. Third-quarter results for the Tories, NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Greens all dropped significantly from the same period in 2008.
"We're one of the few organizations defying gravity," said Rocco Rossi, the Liberal party's national director.
Rossi conceded the results are not as impressive as the second quarter, when Liberals came within a hair a matching the Tories' fundraising prowess. Liberals pulled in $3.87 million versus the Tories' $3.96 million.
Still, he said, "Given all of the circumstances, (it's) a very impressive result for the team."
Many Liberals had been anxiously awaiting the third-quarter numbers, fearing that donations might have dried up along with the party's plunging poll numbers.
Liberal fortunes have been in a downward spiral since Leader Michael Ignatieff vowed in early September to defeat the minority Tory government at the earliest opportunity.
Liberals had been tied with or even slightly ahead of the Tories in public opinion polls throughout the spring and summer. They are now as much as 15 points behind.
Ignatieff's personal popularity has also nosedived as he's lurched from crisis to crisis. He's been forced to back off his threat to force an election and to shake up both his Quebec organization and his inner circle in an attempt to regroup.
Despite those troubles, the third-quarter results continue a trend in which the Liberals have been slowly but steadily closing the fundraising gap with the Tories.
Last year, the Conservatives raked in a total of $21.2 million -- more than triple the Liberals' $5.9 million.
So far this year, the Tories have raised $12.8 million while the Liberals are not far behind with $7.6 million.
According to the most recent financial statements, the NDP pulled in just over $1 million in the third quarter while the Bloc took in just over $220,000 and the Green's almost $240,000.
