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Obama Reports Third-Quarter Record for Fundraising Among Democrats

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 06:00 CDT

By Fredreka Schouten

WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama held his fundraising edge in the presidential race, collecting more campaign cash in the third quarter before an election year than any previous Democratic candidate.

The Illinois senator said Monday that he raised at least $20 million from July through September, bringing his total for the year to nearly $80 million.

How long Obama will retain the money lead is uncertain. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is ahead of Obama in national polls, has not announced her fundraising totals for the third quarter, which ended Sunday.

Republican Fred Thompson raised more than $8 million from July through September for a total of $11.5 million, according to aides who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record. Detailed finance reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by Oct. 15.

The previous Democratic record for the third quarter before a presidential election year was held by former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who raised about $15 million during the same period in 2003, according to the non-partisan Campaign Finance Institute. Dean's campaign faltered after his third-place finish in Iowa. Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry eventually won his party's 2004 nomination.

Anthony Corrado, a campaign-finance expert at Colby College in Maine, said the fundraising numbers show the Democratic race for the White House has split the crowded field into two groups. One has the money to fight in the early and fast-paced nominating process. The other group "is struggling to put together the money to be competitive in January and then hope that lightning will strike," he said.

Obama's campaign plans to use $19 million -- most of his haul for the past three months -- during the nominating contests.

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards, another Democrat, said he raised $7 million during the quarter, most of it for the primary. Edwards has brought in more than $30 million total this year.

Edwards' campaign said he had $12 million in the bank and probably would meet his goal of collecting $40 million by the time of the Iowa and New Hampshire contests in January. Obama did not say how much cash he has available.

The third quarter is usually a slow period for fundraising because it coincides with summer vacations. That was evident in Obama's totals: He raised nearly $26 million in the first quarter and $33 million in the second. Edwards raised $14million in the first quarter and $9million in the second quarter.

Edwards said last week that he will accept public financing, which deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said Monday would give Edwards $10 million for the primary. Accepting public money means Edwards will be limited to how much he can spend during the primary season.

Obama would not release the amount of cash he has available. That figure is a critical measure of how much a candidate has available to pay for advertising and get-out-the-vote operations in early voting states.

He touted the number of individual donors he amassed during the period: 93,000 new contributors. Overall, Obama has received money from 352,000 donors.

The new donors are a "testament to the strength of this grass-roots movement," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said.

Corrado said Obama's donor base "shows he has developed a deep well of support that he can go back to again and again and again. The question is whether he can turn donors who give in small amounts to votes in the polls."

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said Monday that he raised $1.5 million during the third quarter, for a total of $14 million. (c) Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

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