Obama Campaign Raises Over $51 Million In July

CHICAGO — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $51 million in July and the Democratic National Committee reported $27.7 million in donations last month, putting Obama in a strong position for the fall campaign.

Obama began August with $65.8 million on hand and the DNC had $28.5 million available, according to statements released Saturday. His July total was slightly less than the $52 million he raised in June but still eye-popping because he was off the fundraising circuit at home during his trip to the Middle East and Europe.

Obama's Internet-powered fundraising efforts have shattered all previous records for a presidential campaign, bringing in a total of $390 million so far. The Illinois senator has announced he will forgo public financing for the general election, giving up $84 million in taxpayer dollars for the final two months of the campaign and committing himself to a steady pace of fundraising.

By contrast, Republican candidate John McCain has raised just $140 million and has agreed to accept public financing for the general election and the spending restraints that come with it. Unlike Obama, McCain will not feel the intense pressure to raise money in the fall.

Though lagging Obama in fundraising, McCain has remained competitive because of the Republican National Committee's success in attracting donations.

On Friday, McCain's campaign said the presumed GOP nominee had raised $27 million in July, his biggest monthly haul since clinching the party's nomination. McCain's campaign reported having $21 million available to spend.

The RNC said Friday it had brought in nearly $26 million in July and had $75 million on hand to compete with the Democrats. Much of that money has come through fundraisers by President Bush, unpopular nationally but still a potent draw among those who donate to the GOP.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said Saturday that 65,000 new donors contributed to the Obama campaign in July and that more than 2 million had now given Obama money for his presidential bid. The large pool of donors also means a larger number of people to ask for more money in the future.

McCain's campaign said it has logged 600,000 donors.

Comments

[naschkatze]

Obama's 2,000,000 donors translates into at least 2,000,000 votes, and that's not counting households like mine where I am the donor but my husband is also voting for Obama. On the other hand, McCain's $2,000,000 from the oil industry does not translate into 2,000,000 votes.

[mntnguy]

I could not agree more and also take into account that The demographic supporting Sen Obama is younger group that typically do not take polls they use there cell as there only phone line and online we all stay away from polls only older people get caught up in those things this is going ot be a landslide in November just watch!!! I am a social conservative for the first time in my life voting democrat and there is alot of other in my church also going with him Mc Cain is no conservative and frankly scares most of us to death!!!

[BabsfromKansas]

I am not a social conservative but I agree with what you are saying about the polls and the landslide.

[DrFrescas]

Nice! I will be donating again soon too!

[laragale]

How funny Old Yeller's Campaign was JUST bragging on their all-time highest month (July) being some 20+ million - LMAO - of course most of that money will have to go to his team of lobbyists and sharks....

[BabsfromKansas]

Old Yeller or Old Yellow?

[MegInPA]

I'm curious about RNC/DNC totals. The RNC is going to be sinking a lot of money into this election.

[mntnguy]

yes but so are many unions, pac's,and 527's on the dem side so they balance out especially because the GOP does not have the facts on there side all they can try to do is fear up votes or scare them up only way people are going to vote GOP it will not be on issues!

[psfurlong356]

since Nov '07 I've donated 10X @ $25 except this month, $50. This always has been and always will be an effort powered by individuals.

[mntnguy]

i have been doing the same but my donations have been between 25 and 100 depending how much extra i have for the month

[NewsCorpse]

Republicans ought to just admit already. Their candidate is a bust. The evidence of this is supported by the right wing's favorite measure - The market has spoken!

Purely from the perspective of the free flow of money and the investment choices of stakeholders, Obama is a superior product. When will the right face the truth that America is saying "NOPE" http://tinyurl.com/mccain-nopee) to John McCain?

[IslandGyal]

I hope I can give some more; do whatever it takes to beat them senseless come November 4th... Having given the money would be worth it.

[lafrance]

My husband and I are one of those who helped with Obama's haul. We donate to him every month. The little amount we give to Obama may not be much but, we feel we are doing something and helping Obama. We never donated to a candidate before last year when began donating to Obama. But, we wanted so much to see this man elected we are putting our money where our mouth is.
Our only regret is that we don't have much to give and wish we could give more.

[peterdangit]

It's not how much you give, it's how many of your peers do the same. 50M/2M = $25 per person

[lmrgreen]

Good for you both. I too donate regularly - every payday. Sometimes, it's only $5, but those $$ add up don't they! I too, wish I had more to give, but have lobbied my other family & friends to donate, and some of them have been able to give more, but most are just like me - a little at a time. Whatever we give is helpful not only in $$ but in momentum! And once the election is over I plan to continue donating to other progressive causes. It's become a habit!

[FACINGREALIT]

Your little combined with the little from all of us gives much, so don't fret what you are not able to do - respect what you are doing for I certainly do. Thank You for your efforts - and know they are appreciated.

[hydenorhare]

What difference does it make how much he raised. Accepting public financing limits him to 80M or so.

And he DID say he would "..."aggre­ssively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election."­.

He would never break that promise.

[peterdangit]

Nice try...

[boonjava]

hahahahaha­h...

[CindyM2008]

You should be aware by now that he opted out of public financing.

[hydenorhare]

You mean he broke that promise?

No way.

That's old style politics.

He's a new kind of politician.

[lmrgreen]

Hmmm....Ob­ama did pursue an agreement with McCain over public financing. McCain's lawyers couldn't be pinned down, so that was the end of it. And I think 2 million donors the bulk of them small donors like myself pretty much IS public financing.

Let's face it McCain fails to inspire and we need a leader that inspires and can keep Shia, Sunni, al-queda, etc straight.

[hydenorhare]

Oh god that's such bull-sh*t.
How could you actually write that and still preserve any integrity.

[FACINGREALIT]

This trying to parse words is why we are in the 7.6 years of economic hardship. Obama stated, he would aggressively pursue an AGREEMENT - he did not state he would ACCEPT what was offered. As a part of that AGREEMENT Obama wanted the repugs to sideline all the organizations (denounce/reject) that would attempt to SWIFTBOAT him. McCain would not agree to this stating he had no control over outside organizations - THUS Obama had to ensure that he could FIGHT THE SWIFTBOAT attacks (as you can see have been hard and heavy and this is just August). So know what you speak before you accuse someone of 'mis-speak­ing.' Learn how to READ the fine print.

[hydenorhare]

BWAAAHAAAA­AAAAAAAAA!

[DaOne]

Contest begins post convention folks, keep the faith.

[loax]

And I will donate again!

[liberalrebuttal]

...and again !

And even after he's President , if he asks me to donate to a disaster relief effort , I'll donate again.

[olivia]

Me too. I need to give more. My only contribution to July was two donations on his birthday - the second one because McCain pissed me off.

[hexham]

the key to advertising is repetition. so it is time to start ads that are effective and repeat until we are all seeing them in our sleep. it would be a mistake to hoard the money until the last month. Kerry finished with 4 million in the bank unspent!

[KNadine]

I'd like to hear a stat of how much he raised on his birthday (Aug 4th)? I donate every month and I made a point to donate on Aug 4th.

[closetodemfection]

Wow, naive much? Sorry, but this is not good. Mc Cain has public financing and the RNC can raise as much as it wants. O was supposed to be raking in over 100 million a month. That's what he promised - 500 million in the last two months of the GE - the DNC is broke and O needs at least 50 million a month to campaign the way he's been spending..­. what about the down ticket races? There'll be no money left for them.

[IslandGyal]

Blah, blah, blah, go tell your distortions to FAUX News; we aren't interested.

[AdamND]

The DNC isn't broke and Obama never promised to raise 100 million a month.

[k6007]

That was the neogod(the msm)'s figure, in other words...cr­ape!

[closetodemfection]

Oh yes, he did.

Huffpo - O bama 500 million dollar man
http://tinyurl.com/577rgo

Yes, they are broke. So now he's also flip flopped on taking soft money... get informed.

In today's LA TIMES:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-demfunds16-2008aug16,0,101287.story

[CindyM2008]

When did he promise to raise 100 million????

[pbcrunch]

Huh? He is well on the way to raising the amount his campaign predicted he would need months ago. $51m is nothing to sneeze at; neither is $65m in the bank.. And you get the "supposed to be raking in over 100 million a month" from some overly-optimistic Dems who were not part of his campaign. He will have more than the Maverick in the general election. I'm sure contributions will pick up once the conventions (the Dem one will probably be one big advertisement for people to contribute) start and he will swamp the $84m the Maverick is allowed to spend.

The DNC is not broke; it may not have as much money as the RNC but, combined, O/DNC will have raised more money than Mc/RNC by the time this is said and done.

[nurseattorney]

THe DNC can also raise as much as it wants...an­d please, provide a link to your statement that Obama promised to raise a 100 million a month. He raised twice what McCain raised in July. I think thats fine.

[chrissy22]

pollsters dont polls college students and cell phone users

[JulieSA]

Wrong thread?