This is a point that Joe explained to me around 3pm today in the airport by phone. Obama actually raised MORE money than Hillary in the last quarter. He was running around today, so was going to write it up tonight, but ABC has already done the explaining so I'm linking to them.
ABC News has learned that the $23.5 million Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised for his presidential campaign for use in the primaries is more than that raised by the Democratic frontrunner, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.As we like to say here at AMERICAblog, this is huge. All of a sudden, this makes Obama a real candidate. Someone worth donating to. People who might have been holding back now have no reason to. On the other hand, Hillary pulled out all stops to raise as much money as she could. And Obama still beat her, in terms of primary money.
Of the $26 million Clinton has raised in the first quarter of 2007 for her presidential campaign, approximately $20 million is for use in the primaries and caucuses, sources tell ABC News.
Clinton campaign officials cautioned that its campaign was still ascertaining how much of its $26 million raised is available for primary use.
Sources told ABC News that while that is accurate, roughly $20 million is designated for the primary -- it could be slightly less or slightly more. Either way Obama raised more primary cash than Clinton.
The remaining $6 of $26 million raised by Clinton money is designated for use in the general election if the former First Lady wins her party's nomination. Clinton also has slightly more than $10 million that she has transferred from her 2006 Senate campaign account.
Clinton has a distinct money advantage and leads in every national poll, but the fact that rookie Obama has bested a veteran like Clinton in many aspects of fundraising -- he rasied $6.9 million on the Internet, for instance, compared with Clinton's $4.2 million -- has stunned the political world.
Then there are the donor numbers. In a nutshell, Obama can go back to the same donors, Hillary can't, that means another advantage for him.
Obama received donations from more than 100,000 donors, far surpassing any other candidate, including Clinton (50,000), Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., (45,000), former Sen. John Edwards, D-NC, (40,000) or former GOP Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (32,000).
And 90-percent of Obama's donors contributed $100 or less, as opposed to the presumbed larger percentage of Clinton donors who contributed the maximum contribution allowed by law, $2,300 per person per voting cycle.
"That means exponential growth is possible for him in a way that is not available to Hillary Clinton right now," explained Democratic strategist Joe Trippi. "(The Clintons) were counting on blowing everybody out this first quarter and sort of, like, slamming the door."
