Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Obama raises $31 million in April

This is just....wow! From The New York Times:

Aided by his army of small donors, Senator Barack Obama bested Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain in April fund-raising, taking in $31.3 million and ending the month with more cash on hand than either rival.

While fund-raising for Mr. Obama dipped slightly from the previous month, when he raised $40 million, he still outraised — and outspent — his Democratic opponent, Mrs. Clinton.

But Mrs. Clinton’s tally for April, $22 million, was an improvement over March, when she took in $20 million. And nearly half the April money, $10 million, came in online on the day after she won the Pennsylvania primary. Mrs. Clinton also had several days during the month in which she raised $1 million through online donations.

On the Republican side, Mr. McCain, who was once spending more money on his campaign than he took in, raised $18.5 million in April, his best month ever.

The totals were disclosed in campaign finance reports filed on Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission.

The Obama fundraising juggernaut is just incredible. And what is more, this is money coming in as small donations through the internet--not your $1,000-a-plate fundraising dinners courting the fat-cat donors. And still Obama rakes it in. If there is anything that election has shown, it is that you can run a presidential campaign funded by the average American.

A second interesting observation is that Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton raised even more money that Republican Senator John McCain--$22 million to $18.5 million. We're talking about a losing Democratic candidate raising more money than the Republican nominee. What this tells me is that the Democratic base is still energized over the Democratic horse-race, and are still willing to support, and give money to, their favorite candidates.

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