Opinion: Barack Obama’s latest campaign disclosure is more bad news for John McCain

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Barack Obama disclosed today that he raised $36 million in the first 15 days of October, after amassing a jaw-dropping $150 million in September.

Obama’s September-October surge all but guarantees that he will continue to outspend John McCain and the Republican National Committee in the closing days of the 2008 presidential campaign.

Obama had $65.7 million in the bank for the final three weeks of the campaign. That’s in addition to a combined $30 million in the accounts of the Democratic National Committee and a separate committee that Obama and the DNC control.

McCain and the RNC entered the final three weeks of the campaign with a combined $84.4 million in the bank. The RNC raised $27 million in the first 15 days of the month.

The latest fundraising number provides further evidence that Obama made the correct decision when he opted against taking federal funds for the general election campaign. He is relying on his ever-growing donor base of more than 3 million individuals.

McCain, by contrast, took the federal grant of $84.1 million. That money must last from the beginning of September through Nov. 4.

McCain also depends on the Republican National Committee to raise money. Even though it raised what for it was a record $66 million in September, the GOP is failing to keep pace with its Democratic rivals.

Obama and the DNC are poised to outspend McCain by as much as 3 to 2, the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute concluded.

Obama and the Democratic National Committee spent $134.1 million in September, far more than the $108.6 million spent by McCain and the RNC.

In the first 15 days of October, Obama and the DNC spent a combined $117.6 million, compared with $67 million spent by McCain and the Republican National Committee.

--Dan Morain

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