Obama Stunner: $25 Million in the First Quarter
by Ryan Sager
Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 11:28 AM
updated Wed, 4 Apr 2007 at 11:31 AM
The senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, has posted some stunningly positive fundraising figures for the first quarter: $25 million overall, with at least $23.5 million available for the primary. This money, according to the campaign, comes from more than 100,000 donors, some 50,000 of those having given online.
"This overwhelming response, in only a few short weeks, shows the hunger for a different kind of politics in this country and a belief at the grassroots level that Barack Obama can bring out the best in America to solve our problems," said Obama for America finance chair Penny Pritzker.
What's important about the number, of course, is that it comes within a hair's width of tying Hillary Clinton's $26 million for the first quarter...
And, since the Clinton camp won't say how much of that money is for the primary, it's possible that Mr. Obama has raised more for the primary.
Given how powerful Mrs. Clinton's fundraising apparatus is, and given how much of a newcomer Mr. Obama is, this has to count as one of the biggest surprises of the campaign so far. While money isn't everything, Mrs. Clinton — like John McCain — was counting on "inevitability" to carry her through. She — again, like Mr. McCain — no longer has that.
What's more, those 100,000 donors to Mr. Obama far outpace Mrs. Clinton's 50,000 donors and John Edwards's 37,000. That's a very wide base of support from small donors — people the Obama camp can come back to again and again. A full $6.9 million came from the 50,000 Internet donors alone.
UPDATE: Also, the Obama for America finance chair is named "Penny." Cool.
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