Obama pulls in 20 mln dlrs for 2008 race

[ProudToBeLiberal]

Source: Agence France-Presse (AFP)

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic Senator Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) reportedly pulled in 20 million dollars in donations for his White House campaign, only a few million shy of front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Citing unnamed aides of Obama, who seeks to become the country's first-ever African-American president, the New York Times said Obama brought in 20 million dollars (15 million euros) in the first three months of the race, compared to Senator Clinton's 26 million, "enough to ratchet up the anxiety in the Clinton camp."

Clinton reported the size of her war chest as of a key fund-raising deadline on Saturday, while Obama has yet to officially reveal his takings on the campaign trail.

But the Obama estimate confirmed that this race, with the Democrats and Republicans both showing large fields of candidates for their respective nominations, is smashing all records in the arena of fund-raising.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070403/pl_afp/usvote2008obama_070403135322

[Norquist Nemesis]

1. Okay, I have to ask what the point of "(15 million euros)" is

To a reader who's just skimming, it gives a perception that 3/4 of the money was from overseas. :shrug:

[ProudToBeLiberal]

2. afp is a french news service nt

[Norquist Nemesis]

7. Thanks

that explains it

[ProudToBeLiberal]

9. np, i edited to include the full name nt

[arcos]

3. Believe it or not, not all readers are Americans...

And other currencies are used around the world.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. You don't have to get snippy

It was an honest question

[William769]

10. Believe it or no this is an American website based on American politics.

But foreigners are welcome.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

18. so you're saying that ex-patriots don't matter?

don't you think that's a bit narrow minded?

[smalll]

20. Well, I guess you could say that "ex-patriots" don't matter,

since wouldn't "ex-patriots" be pretty close to traitors? Expatriates, on the other hand, count.

[arcos]

22. The news piece was not published in this website...

What we have here is only a reproduction, the original story included the amount in euros.

Should it be removed because this is an American website?

[BeyondGeography]

4. AFP = Agence France Presse

[zulchzulu]

6. So Obama pulled in 192,445,442,200 Iranian Rials so far!

Compared to Senator Clinton's 105,556,250 Israeli New Shekels, that is quite impressive!

:sarcasm:

[MADem]

5. And here's something fascinating about the Democratic Party's fundraising efforts

Who would have EVER thought the day would come when we wouldn't just match, but BEAT the GOP at the money game?

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=346047&Category=23&subCategoryID=

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has not released his fund-raising numbers. If, as expected, Obama raised roughly $20 million, then Democrats would have amassed $70 million in the first three months of the year, compared with roughly $50 million for the Republicans.

Such numbers underscore the Democrats’ resurgence and hunger to win back the White House, after taking control of Congress in the 2006 elections.

“This is Part Two of the 2006 elections,” Julian Zelizer, a political historian and campaign analyst at Boston University. Democrats, he added, are proving they “can raise money in a way that a few years ago didn’t seem possible. It’s a gauge of how the political momentum has shifted.”

Campaign finance experts believe candidates could need as much as $100 million to wage campaigns early next year.

[pampango]

13. We have been behind in the money game for so long, I had come

to figure that they would always have significantly more money to campaign with than we do.

Of course, that raises the issue of where does the money come from and what do the donors want in return. Since the contribution limits are small, though, maybe the "influence peddling" is less than it would have been under the old rules. Hopefully, this will work to our advantage for a change.

[MADem]

15. The guy gets a ton of shit on this forum, but we can thank Terry McAuliffe for our improved fortunes

He was the guy that got us out of rented facilities into our very own purpose-built HQ. And he made sure we raised the dough, hand over fist, ahead of changes to the laws that would have made it difficult to do. He wheeled, he dealed, he wheedled, he cajoled, and he pried the dough loose.

As a consequence, money that would be going now towards a building fund, or worse still, RENT, can now be dedicated to campaigns. And it's not a question of WHO got to the donor first.

[0rganism]

19. of course, this is before the soft-money kicks in

What the rich republicans can't accomplish through direct candidate contributions, they make up for by underwriting attack ad factories like "Swift Boat Veterans For Truth" that aren't even going to register on the books at this phase of the race.

[gorbal]

11. I like the fact that he worked with Acorn

If you do some research on him he seems some unadvertised history that might make you like him more than you thought. Perhaps he doesn't want people to know him as to much of an activist and wants to show his more conservative side. I don't know.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ronnykmarshall]

14. So, yesterday when Hillary's numbers were released

all hell broke loose.

Just sayin'.

[ripple]

16. Nothing on Obama's site, yet

This article might be completely accurate, but I want to see something with named sources (either from the Obama camp or the FEC) before I celebrate.

[BigDDem]

17. Wait...

Where are all the comments that he is "buying the election?"
Must be the "fat cats" and "corporate whores" who are financing
Obama, right?

[ProudDad]

21. Gee, I guess '08 will prove that

2 Billion Dollars just ain't what it used to be.

Of course, the BIG winners will be -- the 3 companies that OWN the media...