Obama's Internet Army Grows to 1 Million Donors

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced Wednesday that its army of donors has grown to a history-making 1 million people.

The milestone is the latest for the freshman Democratic senator from Illinois, who has smashed fundraising records by tapping into small donors — many of them first-time participants — largely through an Internet "click and donate" strategy.

"It's an amazing achievement," said Joe Trippi, who pioneered online fundraising as Howard Dean's campaign manager in the 2004 presidential race.

"We may have invented it," Trippi said of heavy reliance on the Internet. "But it was the Wright brothers with a flimsy plane that proved you could fly."

"These guys are landing on the moon four years later with what they're doing," he said of the Obama effort, which has blasted far beyond current and past campaigns. During the Democratic debate Tuesday night in Cleveland, Obama said 90 percent of contributions — expected to top $50 million just this month — are pouring in through the campaign's Web site.

Four years ago, Dean astounded many by amassing funds from an estimated 280,000 donors. Obama has more than tripled that number, and because the vast majority have given less than the $2,300 maximum allowed, they can continue to send more $25, $50 and $100 donations.

By contrast, the campaign of Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton relied heavily on a much smaller number of big donors, who have hit their legal limit. Earlier this month, the New York senator announced she was lending $5 million to her cash-strapped campaign.

"No one will make the mistake ever again of running a top-down fundraising effort the way Clinton has," said Trippi.

That approach had a ripple effect for Clinton, he added, blaming it for her series of losses in the caucus states, where Obama generally trounced Clinton and took away his biggest gains in delegates.

"If you have hundreds of thousands of people out there and you can connect them to your organization in these far flung states and every precinct, then in a caucus state where organization matters, you're going to win," Trippi said.

The rise of the small donor has also won praise from the campaign finance reform community. Bundlers, fundraisers who gather contributions from friends and associates on behalf of campaigns, "are still playing a big role," said Meredith McGehee of the Campaign Legal Center. "But it's one of the healthier developments that the small donors are seen as valuable."

The Obama success was a surprise for many political veterans, she said. "I think if you had asked any of us six months ago, 'Would the Obama strategy work?' I think almost anybody would be dubious because it hadn't been shown you could organize that small donor money efficiently."