Obama raises $50 million in July

Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Despite leaving the country for more than a week, Sen. Barack Obama raised $50 million in July, keeping him in line to collect more than half a billion dollars for his 2008 presidential bid.

The showing, almost double what presumptive Republican nominee John McCain raised in the same month, was fresh evidence that Obama has maintained his record-setting pace after a contentious primary contest with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was also part of a larger trend in which Democratic candidates and party committees have been able to close the fund-raising gap with their Republican counterparts.

Based on the figures the Obama campaign made public Saturday, the Illinois senator has now raised roughly $400 million in his campaign for the White House, and his top aides believe funds could come in at an even faster rate when voters are paying closer attention to the contest in September and October. Sen. John McCain’s campaign announced Friday that he raised $27 million in July, bringing his total to just over $170 million for the campaign to date.

During the 2004 primaries, by comparison, President Bush raised $258 million during the 2004 primary campaign, while Sen. John Kerry raised $215 million before formally accepting the Democratic nomination. Obama’s July figure represents the third-highest monthly fund-raising total in history.

Though contributions flowing into Obama’s campaign through the Internet have been credited with much of his fund-raising success, he has also engaged in an aggressive courtship of the nation’s wealthy elite — he now has at least 35 bundlers who have each raised more than $500,000 for his campaign.

And Obama’s strong financial position has been accompanied by a broader wave of support for Democrats in other federal, state and local campaigns. On Friday, the Federal Election Commission released a review of party fundraising over the past 18 months that found Democratic Party committees have raised 25 percent more during this election cycle than at the same point four years ago. Republicans, by contrast, have seen a 12 percent decline.

The report shows total giving to Democratic Party accounts has increased from $278 million during the 2004 election cycle to $351 million so far this year. Republican Party donations have dropped during the same period, from $464 million to $409 million.

John Podesta, a former Clinton White House chief of staff, said he believes three factors are driving the Democratic fund-raising numbers.

“One is Bush and the antipathy towards him. The second is Iraq and the antipathy towards the war. And the third is Obama, who has attracted a fervor that is very unusual in our politics,” Podesta said.