The presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton (D-NY) says it attracted 35M in donations during the month of February, surpassing in one month its best results for any one quarter during 2007. And although the Barack Obama (D-IL) has not yet released its total for the month, it reports it will easily surpass Clinton.
Obama has been pulling in cash in small amounts over the internet, and speculation had been that Clinton would have a hard time keeping pace, since her larger donors are already tapped out. This theory went along with her decision to kick in 5M of her own cash before Super Duper Tuesday. But according to the Washington Post, she too has found success tapping small donors over the internet. That is said to account for 30M of the 35M total.
The two candidates have been running neck and neck in the fundraising battlefront since the beginning of 2007. Clinton’s quarterly totals for 2007 were 26.04M, 26.47M, 25.98M and 26.06M. The Obama string reads 25.65M, 32.78M, 20.37M and 22.60M. It was during January 2008 that Obama pulled off a shocker, besting Clinton 36.00M to 13.79.
RBR/TVBR observation: Clinton’s ability to bounce back in February is a testimony to her survival skills, and it is also testimony to the high level of interest being exhibited by average citizens this year. Spending on the Democratic side will continue to be brisk until a winner is decided. But there seems to be little doubt that either one will be able to generate as much cash as needed for the fall sprint to November 5th.
