Obama Campaign Pulls In Big Money

(CBS/AP)  Sen. Barack Obama has outdone fellow Democrat and chief rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in quarterly campaign fundraising for the 2008 presidential election.

The first-term senator surpassed the former first lady by $10 million in second-quarter contributions that can be spent on the Democratic presidential primary contest.

Obama's campaign on Sunday reported raising at least $31 million for the primary contest and an extra $1.5 million for the general election from April through June, a record for a Democratic candidate.

Clinton's campaign announced late Sunday that she had raised $21 million for the primary. With general election contributions added, aides said her total sum would be "in the range" of $27 million. Candidates can only use general election money if they win their party's nomination.

Asked if Obama's fundraising made him uneasy, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe told CBS's The Early Show Monday, "You're always nervous in these campaigns.

"What's clear is both candidates will have all the money they need in order to run an effective race," he said.

The whopping amount for Obama, who hopes to become America's first black president, ensures his place as a top contender for the Democratic nomination. It steals the spotlight from Clinton, who hopes to be the first woman president. And it establishes the two of them as the fundraising juggernauts of the entire presidential field.

For Obama, vaulting ahead of Clinton in the money race is an important achievement. Despite broad public interest in Obama's candidacy, he trails Clinton in national polls.

Counting this quarter's surge of donors, Obama has received donations from more than 258,000 donors through the first half of the year, an extraordinary figure at this stage of the campaign. He raised $25.7 million in the first three months of the year.

Meanwhile, Democrat John Edwards raised more than $9 million from April through June and relied on nearly 100,000 donors during the first half of the year.

The campaign has said it is on track to raise $40 million by the Iowa caucuses in January.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was at Edward's heels, with his campaign reporting more than $7 million raised. But Edwards' six-month total was $23 million, compared with more than $13 million for Richardson.

The figures that some campaigns released Sunday are estimates. Details of how much the campaigns raised and spent in the latest period will not be available until the candidates file financial reports with the Federal Election Commission by July 15.

While several Democrats revealed their total sums, Republicans were not expected to announce their figures until Monday or later in the week.

[agnim]

lllll

[alleyoop73]

It's all about the money, isn't it?

[vietnam69-70]

Obama needs to drive this point: July 2 was the "BRING EM ON" anniversary & Libby Commute

Libby's commute on July 2nd occurred on the 4th Anniversary of Bush's macho-tough-guy "BRING 'EM ON" taunt (from the safety of the White House) to Iraqi resistance to attack our troops.

So now on the day that Libby's sentence was commuted (July 2, 2007) ... 3,583 American GI's had died in Iraq ... 3,376 of these heroes since Bush's July 2, 2003, sound-byte opportunity "BRING EM ON" taunt.

Noteworthy is that on July 2, 2003, and Bush's "Bring em on" taunt, 207 Americans had died in Iraq.

Obama needs to use the coincidence of the July 2nd events as a metaphor for just arrogant, incompetent and polarizing Bush is.

[conniereh]

That's great Obama that you can raise a whole bunch of money. I'm glad everyone is dipping into their pockets to give it to you.

Now let's see what you can do about issues that matter: Health care, illegal aliens and border control, jobs in this country.

[dinglebopper]

Am I supposed to be impressed by the fundraising prowess of the candidates? This is like deciding which movie to see based on the box office receipts - who cares?

[huanaco]

WHERE IN HELL OBAMA IS GETTING SO MUCH MONEY ? I SMELL A RAT HERE, I WOULDN,T BE SURPRISED IF THE REPUBLICANS ARE BUILDING UP A LOST CAUSE.OBAMA DO AMERICA A FAVOR, QUIT THE RACE. AMERICA IS NOT READY AND NEVER WILL BE FOR A BLACK PRESIDENT.

[joymab]

If even half of the polticians that raised money for campaining donated half of their funds, then our national debt would be a lot smaller and quite possibly eradicated within a few elections. Maybe instead of raising taxes they should look into that option.

[processor2]

And, I am still wondering how Clinton(s) are going
to politically destroy Barak Obama while simultaneously
proclaiming to "feel the pain of black people"

...

[bvandam1]

Proof positive that Obama is the man the people want to turn around the global unpopularity and damage the current administration has done to this country and lead us into better times.

[donnie900]

Well, what I wanna know is: Do they have some kind of a stand-in doing their jobs as Senator and Congressman while they're on their campaigns to be President?

They must have. Cuz those jobs are too important to just up and hop on a bus and get paid to run for President. They must have like wireless networking or somfin. Being a Senator and a Congressman is way way too hard to do at the same time someone runs fer President.