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Millions pour in for Obama
03/04/2008 21:08 - (SA)
Washington - Democrat Barack Obama piled up more than $40m in presidential campaign financing in March alone, a total which his rival Hillary Clinton's camp admitted would outstrip its haul.
Obama's windfall, his latest staggering show of financial muscle, will help him far outspend his rival in states where key nominating showdowns are looming, like Pennsylvania, Indiana and North Carolina.
The Illinois senator's monthly take, the latest eye-popping figure in what is shaping up as the first billion dollar US election, takes his total fundraising so far to more than $230m, according to official figures.
Until the end of February, Clinton, who is yet to announce her March accounts, had raised $169m, after recovering from a cash crunch which at one stage forced her to lend her campaign $5m.
Obama aides said more than 442 000 donors had helped him raise over $40m in March, with more than 218 000 people contributing to the campaign for the first time.
Contributors are volunteering
"Today we're seeing the American people's extraordinary desire to change Washington, as tens of thousands of new contributors joined the more than a million Americans who have already taken ownership of this campaign for change," Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe said.
"Many of our contributors are volunteering for the campaign, making our campaign the largest grassroots army in recent political history."
Clinton communications chief Howard Wolfson played down Obama's financial advantage, and she had the resources she needed to fight on.
"We knew that he was going to out-raise us, he has out-raised us over the last several months," Wolfson said in a conference call.
"We will have the resources that we need to compete and be successful in the upcoming primary states.
"I would remind everyone that he outspent us over two to one on television in Ohio and Texas ... we were able to win despite being outspent."
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