CHICAGO, Senator Barack Obama Raised More Money In August Than Any Presidential Candidate Has Ever Recorded In A One-month Period, with His Campaign Disclosing On Sunday That It Collected $66 Million And Drew 500, 000 First-time Donors To His Candidacy.
The Record-setting Figures And Particularly The New Supporters Who Can Contribute Again Before Election Day Were Crucial For Mr. Obama, who Was Heading Into The General Election As The First Major-party Candidate To Forgo Public Financing. The Campaign Amassed Its Millions Of Dollars Through An Aggressive Internet Drive, by Attracting Some Of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton ' S Donors And As Concerns Increased Over A Tightening Contest.
David Plouffe, the Obama Campaign Manager, said More Than 2.5 Million People Had Contributed Since The Race Began.
"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, " Mr. Plouffe Said In An E-mail Message On Sunday.
While The Amount Surpassed The Previous Record Of $55 Million Set In February By Mr. Obama, it Is In Line With Ambitious Goals His Campaign Set In June, when He Decided To Back Away From His Pledge To Take Public Financing. Mr. Obama May Need To Match Or Even Exceed The New Record This Month And Next To Compete With Senator John McCain And The Republican National Committee.
Even With The Impressive August Fund-raising, the Obama Campaign And The Democratic National Committee Appear To Have Started September With Slightly Less At Their Disposal Than Mr. McCain And The Republican National Committee For The General Election Sprint.
Mr. McCain Set A Personal Record In August By Raising $47 Million. And Republicans Started September With Just More Than $100 Million, according To Party Officials And Fund-raisers For Mr. McCain. That Amount Reflects Money Coming From The National Committee, a Balance Left In Mr. McCain ' S Primary Account That Has Been Transferred To The Party, and Money Held In A Joint Account For Both Entities, as Well As Several State Parties.
Mr. Plouffe Said Sunday That The Obama Campaign Began September With $77 Million In Its Bank Account. Democratic Officials Said The Party Raised About $17 Million In August And Finished With A Similar Amount In The Bank. The Combined Total Gave Democrats An Estimated $94 Million In Available Cash For The Presidential Race. There Is Greater Urgency, though, on Behalf Of Mr. Obama ' S Campaign Since He Did Not Receive $84 Million From The Treasury, As Mr. McCain Did, When He Formally Accepted His Party ' S Nomination.
It Was Not Yet Clear How Much The Four-day Democratic National Convention At The End Of August, Designed To Show Democrats, including Former Supporters Of Mrs. Clinton, coalescing Around Mr. Obama, Drove A Surge In Contributions. Nor Was It Clear How Much Of The Money Came In After Aug. 29, when Mr. McCain Announced Gov. Sarah Palin Of Alaska As His Running Mate.
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