Obama Raises $25 Million, Close On the Heels Of Hillary Clinton

WASHINGTON — Relative newcomer Sen. Barack Obama collected a stunning $25 million for his presidential campaign in the first three months of this year, bringing him almost even with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and tightening the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008.

In a sign of broad early support, the Obama campaign announced Wednesday that 100,000 people had donated. The first-term Illinois senator, who has found an enthusiastic response on the Internet, took in $6.9 million in online contributions.

Campaign finance chairman Penny Pritzker said the response "shows the hunger for different kind of politics in this country" at the grassroots level.

The first quarter fundraising total punctured expectations that Clinton might be unstoppable, with the help of the fundraising network built by her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Earlier this week, the Hillary Clinton campaign announced she had raised $26 million in the first quarter of this year.

However, she had 50,000 donors — half the number reported by Obama — and less collected from the Internet: $4.2 million.

Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, commenting on the Obama totals, congratulated the rival campaign "and the entire Democratic field on their fundraising" and said it indicated "the overwhelming desire for change in our country."

The Obama campaign's big cash intake also put a new light on the Democratic contest.

"The sense that Senator Clinton is the clear front-runner in the race is now starting to wane," said Anthony Corrado Jr., a professor of government at Colby College and campaign finance specialist.

What's striking about Obama's fundraising is that "it shows that the interest in his candidacy and the attention to him as a political celebrity is translating into political money and a very viable campaign," Corrado said.

The next question will be which Democrat has raised the most for the primary campaign, since candidates are asking donors who have given up to the $2,300 limit for the primaries to give up to $2,300 toward the general election.

Obama, who still trails the New York senator in most state and national polls, announced that of his total, $23.5 million has been donated for the primary. Clinton has not reported that breakdown yet.

Early fundraising success is not always an indicator of success when voters cast ballots in the key presidential primaries. After all, then Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas was the Republican's big money winner in the first quarter of 1995 with $13.5 million, but his campaign later stalled out.

Four years ago, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards won the early Democratic fundraising contest by taking in $7.4 million, but he failed to win the nomination.

This year, former Sen. Edwards is third among Democratic contenders, with more than $14 million collected in the first three months of the year and more than 40,000 donors.

Other Democratic contenders are far back in the early money chase.

On the Republican side, only Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and successful business entrepreneur, has come close to matching the Democrats in fundraising.

Romney scooped up $23 million from a network that includes business allies and fellow Mormons. His support as measured by national poll numbers has continued to linger in the single digits.

Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor who has led in most public opinion surveys of Republicans in the early going, raised $15 million.

Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who started the 2008 race as the reputed front-runner, raised only $12.5 million in the first quarter. McCain has since ordered his staff to retool his fundraising drive.

McCain's move puts pressure on two Texans who now are key to the success of his presidential bid. Gramm and former U.S. Rep. Tom Loeffler, the general co-chairmen of the campaign, are working on reshaping the financial side of the effort.

Loeffler said Wednesday he is drawing on his experience as a top fundraiser for the Bush presidential campaigns. The new goal for McCain — as it was for Bush — is to target people who can amass hefty contributions.

The Bush campaign called them Rangers and Pioneers, folks who collected $100,000 and $200,000. In the McCain campaign, they will be McCain 100s and McCain 200s.

"Your voluntary fundraisers become vested in the program," Loeffler said of the system. "They have a sense of ownership. It creates enthusiasm, excitement and competition and has been proven to be a very successful manner in which to excite all of those who voluntarily raise money."

The McCain campaign has 56 supporters who raised at least $100,000 for Bush presidential campaigns.

"I am absolutely confident the requisite amount of dollars needed for this campaign are there," Loeffler said. "It's just a matter of correcting the course and guiding the program."

Loeffler was national chairman of Gramm's 1996 presidential campaign.