Obama Raised $66 Million in August

By Matthew Mosk
Democrat Barack Obama again shattered the monthly record for presidential fundraising, bringing in $66 million in August, according to figures his campaign released this morning.

Obama also expanded his already enormous list of donors, adding more than 500,000 first-time donors in August and bringing to 2.5 million the number of people who have contributed to his campaign since he kicked it off at the start of 2007.

Obama campaign officials have repeatedly used the size of the Illinois senator's donor list as a key reason why they are justified casting the campaign a grassroots movement, and that continued today.

"John McCain says that he'll take on the special interests and lobbyists, but McCain can't fix a problem he's been part of for three decades. The 500,000 new donors to the Obama campaign demonstrate just how strongly the American people are looking to kick the special interests out and change Washington," said David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, in a statement.

The number of donors is significant because most of those who have given have not yet reached the $2,300 contribution limit. That means Obama has a huge pool of supporters to return to this month and next as he seeks to cover the expensive final weeks of campaigning.

Obama released his monthly totals this morning, two weeks after Republican John McCain announced he also had achieved a personal best for a month of raising money -- raising $47 million during the same period.

McCain aides have noted that the Arizona senator is not trailing by nearly as much as it would first appear. That's because both candidates are aided by their respective parties. The Republican National Committee has consistently raised significantly more than its Democratic counterpart. Early reports indicate that in August the DNC again fell far short in fundraising, though the party has yet to make public its totals. Those are due to the Federal Election Commission no later than Sept. 20.

The Obama campaign entered September with $77 million in cash on hand. The amount should help given the breakneck pace of spending by the Obama campaign.

Fundraisers for Obama's campaign said they already believe September could surpass August in money raised, thanks in part to a wave of new donations that followed McCain's announcement of running mate Sarah Palin. They said the Alaska governor's conservative positions have helped galvanize the Democratic donor base in ways they had not seen previously.

Obama's August total surpassed the previous record for a month of fundraising, $55 million, itself set by Obama in February.

I like this guy, I would vote for him if I was in USA.