Is Hillary Getting Baracked?

Absolute Zero · July 2nd, 2007, 05:48 AM

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama raised at least $32.5 million in the second quarter of 2007, topping his first quarter effort by nearly $7 million, the Illinois Democrat's campaign announced Sunday.

More than 154,000 donors contributed to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign in the second quarter, his aides said.

The Obama campaign said the senator raised "at least" $31 million in the second quarter in primary money, and a total -- counting $1.5 million in general election funds -- of $32.5 million.

The amount is believed to be the highest ever raised in a quarter by a Democratic candidate, and exceeded what rival Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign predicted she would raise in the same period.

In an e-mail posted on the campaign Web site, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said the fundraising will allow Obama to compete fully funded in all February 5, 2008, contests in states like California and New York.
"Frankly, when we entered this race, we did not think that was possible," Plouffe wrote. "We estimated at this point of the campaign we'd be at least $20-25 million behind one of our fellow candidates."

Clinton's campaign has not yet released the amount of money raised for the second quarter, which ended at midnight Saturday.

Spokesman Howard Wolfson said Thursday that the New York senator and former first lady expected to be out-raised by Obama. Wolfson said she would raise "in the range of $27 million" in the second quarter, putting her total take for the year north of $53 million.

In the first quarter, Obama raised $25.7 million, and $24.8 million of that was for the primary campaign. Clinton led Democratic fundraising in the first quarter, raising $26 million, and posted another $10 million from her Senate war chest.

More than 154,000 donors contributed money to Obama's campaign this quarter, up from the 104,000 donors in the first quarter, Obama's campaign said....
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Pretty impressive stuff.

I fully expect a smear campaign to discretely eminate from the Clinton camp as this will be perceived as a major threat to her "front runner" status.

AZZenny · July 2nd, 2007, 07:49 AM

I want to see who contributed to Hillary. Interesting her team is acting like they expected this -- when they've been suggesting Obama was running out of money and steam.

Absolute Zero · July 2nd, 2007, 11:10 AM

Everyone hear that? That was the $32.5 million sound of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's inevitability melting away in the summer heat. Clinton aides can talk about polls, endorsements, and even trot out (as they are today) the single most popular Democrat on the planet, but that ignores the inconvenient fact that no actual human being has technically voted yet. As for some other measurements -- energy, enthusiasm, and (of course) financing, the edge at this mid-year moment belongs to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Obama brought in a cool $10 million more than Clinton did in primary dollars during the second quarter -- a gap greater than former senator John Edwards' entire fund-raising haul for the three-month period. Clinton, D-N.Y., is also raising astronomical sums, and Edwards, D-N.C., is attracting enough cash to stay in the game, but something very real is powering the Obama campaign.

By the eye-popping numbers: Obama brought in more than $32.5 million in 90 days -- all but $1.5 million of it earmarked for the primaries -- for a six-month haul of $58 million, from 258,000 different donors. Forgetting for a moment the unavoidable (and instructive) comparisons to Howard Dean, in a word, Wow. "Obama's fundraising pace puts his candidacy on a course to match and possibly exceed the resources available to Clinton, a former first lady who came to the campaign with extensive ties to the Democratic establishment and a ready-made donor base," write Mike Dorning and John McCormick of the Chicago Tribune.

This is the backdrop ready for former President Bill Clinton upon his return to the campaign stage today. With much of the field hitting Iowa this week, he'll be there with his wife for a four-day campaign swing that starts tonight with an 8:30 pm ET rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.
If this does bring a boost (and realize how little attention there is these days to the downside of putting the former president on the trail), the Clinton campaign needs it: The leader in national polls already had an Iowa problem, and now she has an Obama problem that runs deeper than dollar signs. "Hillary Clinton may be the one consistently coming out top when Democratic voters are asked who they want to be their presidential candidate, but Barack Obama seems to be the one they reach into their wallets for," write Politico's Ben Smith and Richard Allen Greene.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNo...3105288&page=1