Obama says number of people, not dollars impressive part of fund-raising report

LACONIA, N.H. -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said the "wonderful part" of his fund-raising report was not the record $32.5 million he raised in the last three months, but the record amount 258,000 people who contributed to his campaign.

"This week I got a lot of attention because we raised a lot of money," Obama said. "People said we couldn't compete by trusting in the American people, but we can because there are a quarter million people who want a health care system out there. There are a quarter million people who want to turn the page on our energy policy. There are at least a quarter million people who want to see a solution to the end of the war in Iraq."

For the second quarter in a row, Obama out-raised all of his Democratic rivals in raising primary dollars.

Besides a town meeting in at a downtown park in Laconia, Obama held also meet in private meetings with labor leaders before a private house party in Concord. He also made calls into Iowa inviting Des Moines residents to a rally on Wednesday.