Barack Obama's big money haul!
Sen. Barack Obama, who continues to trail Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in national polls, sure isn't trailing in the all-important money business.
The Illinois senator shattered a Democratic record by raising $32.5 million in the second quarter, easily eclipsing the considerable haul raised by Clinton, his main rival for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Clinton announced earlier that she raised $27 million in the second quarter of 2007, which ended yesterday. That sum would have been a record but for Obama’s even stronger showing. Sensing her on-charging rival was doing well, Clinton's experienced campaign the other day tried to take the edge off today's record by predicting it.
Obama’s $32.5 million is more than all other Democratic presidential candidates combined raised for the same period four years ago, and all but matches the $35 million that President Bush raised in the second quarter of 2003.
Obama says that 154,000 donors contributed to his campaign in the second quarter. He raised at least $31 million in money earmarked solely for the primary. The remaining $1.5 million would be used for the general election.
The strong showing by the freshman Democratic senator follows the $25 million he raised in the first quarter of the year. It underscores that while Clinton leads him in national polls, Obama is mounting a major challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. For the first quarter's fundraising totals, see this previous Top of the Ticket item.
Altogether, Obama has amassed $55.7 million for the primary, tapping 258,000 donors, his campaign said in a statement.
Former Sen. John Edwards, generally viewed as the third leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, announced that he had raised $9 million in the second quarter. For complete coverage of the fundraising race, check Times' correspondent Dan Morain's current story now posted elsewhere on this website and in The Times' tomorrow morning.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo: Sen. Barack Obama; Credit: Orlin Wagner/AP
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