Obama brings in more than $40 million in March
List of donors has grown to nearly 1.3m
WASHINGTON - Senator Barack Obama raised more than $40 million in March and boosted his vast network of donors to nearly 1.3 million, the campaign announced yesterday.
His rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton, raised about half that - $20 million, the second best month of her campaign.
Obama's total, while less than the record $55 million he raised in February, gives him a substantial financial advantage over Clinton heading into the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.
"I am being outspent," Clinton told reporters yesterday, adding: "I will have money to compete. Obviously Senator Obama has more than enough money to compete." Her campaign also points out that she won the crucial Ohio and Texas primaries last month even though Obama outspent her.
Obama's haul also buttressed his argument to Democratic superdelegates, who will probably decide the nominee, that he has built a vast network of donors and volunteers that they wouldn't want to lose by denying him the nomination.
"His ability to raise more money than Hillary Clinton is part of the handicapping that is going on by superdelegates," said Steve Murphy, a Democratic consultant who worked on Bill Richardson's presidential campaign but who is now unaligned.
Some other Democrats remain wary, afraid that the quantities of money and continuing competition will hurt the eventual pick as the presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, builds up his support with little opposition.
"Obama and Clinton's fund-raising numbers are impressive," Donna Brazile, Al Gore's campaign manager in 2000, said in an e-mail exchange. "There's no question that voters remain excited about the two candidates, but if this money is used to tear the party apart or to destruct the other while McCain is out on a biotour, it would be akin to pouring it down the drain."
So far this year, Obama has raised about $131 million, compared with Clinton's nearly $70 million. Details of their March fund-raising will be made public in reports due to the Federal Election Commission on April 20.
Obama has been the candidate most successful at blending high-dollar donors with small contributions by deft use of the Internet.
The Obama campaign said it attracted more than 218,000 first-time donors in March, and campaign manager David Plouffe claimed a double benefit. "Many of our contributors are volunteering for the campaign, making our campaign the largest grass-roots army in recent political history," he said.
Though she trails Obama in delegates needed for the nomination, Clinton advisers and fund-raisers said her donors remain enthusiastic. But her fund-raisers also say she relied too much on large donors, who have already given the maximum $2,300 allowed for the primaries.
"That pool is reduced," said Larry Stone, a Clinton fund-raiser in Silicon Valley. "Hillary came really late to the game in effective fund-raising on the Internet as compared to Barack Obama. . . . Many of the solid, enthusiastic Clinton supporters were maxed out."
But Stone added: "A big boon to the fund-raising has been these appeals for her to withdraw. It makes supporters angry, especially women." 