Obama reaches 2 million donors

Barack Obama's campaign announced today that it has reached another milestone in its record-smashing fund-raising -- 2 million individual donors, believed to be by far the most by any presidential candidate.

The presumptive Democratic nominee, harnessing the power of the Internet like no candidate before him, had brought in about $340 million by the end of June, compared to about $145 million for Republican rival John McCain.

"It's a positive sign that more people are getting involved in something that for so long has been the province of the very wealthy elite few," said Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money.

Indeed, Obama's campaign highlights the thousands of small-dollar donors. "Today we achieved something amazing -- 2,000,000 donors owning a piece of this campaign," the message says on Obama's contributor website. "In the face of John McCain's low road tactics, it's more important than ever to keep our movement growing and show the power of millions of grassroots supporters coming together to work for change."

The center notes, however, that half of Obama's haul has come from people giving at least $200.

Still, the level of Obama's fund-raising is astounding. If each of the 2 million contributors gave the maximum $2,300 for the primaries, and another $2,300 for the general election, that would total $9.6 billion.

And because Obama is bypassing public financing -- while McCain will accept about $84 million in public money for the fall campaign -- Obama will need to keep up the cash-raising pace, either by bringing in new donors or by persuading existing donors to give more.

Ritsch noted today that while Obama's 2 million donors represent less than 1 percent of the US population, about 9 percent of taxpayers check off their federal income tax forms to fund the public financing system, meaning that McCain will be drawing from a bigger population pool.

McCain, meanwhile, sent a fresh fund-raising appeal to his supporters today, saying he needs money to spend before Labor Day. After that, by accepting public funding, he will be under spending limits.

"I intend to keep my promise of accepting federal funds for the general election. Senator Obama has chosen to break the promise he made many times before and will opt out of accepting these funds. I am a man of my word and I intend to honor the promises I have made during this campaign," McCain wrote. "I am ready to lead our country as president but I won't win without your support. Beginning September 1st, we will be limited in the amount of money we can spend in this election and Senator Obama will be able to spend whatever he wants to defeat me."

UPDATE: Also today, the staff of the Federal Election Commission recommended that the agency's board approve McCain's withdrawal from the public financing during the primaries.

When his campaign was broke last year, McCain applied for public financing, which would have limited his spending. But after he won the New Hampshire primary, his fund-raising increased dramatically and he pulled out of public financing.

Democrats had accused McCain of using the promise of federal money as collateral for $4 million in loans he received before New Hampshire.

"We are pleased but obviously not surprised with the FEC staff's recommendations to the Commission. The staff largely recognized the points we have made all along -- that John McCain had a right to withdraw from the primary matching funds system, and that the campaign did not pledge any federal matching funds certifications as collateral for a bank loan. The campaign has at all times made clear that it carefully complied with all federal laws and FEC regulations, and it is gratifying that the professional FEC staff agrees with us," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in a statement.