Obama, Clinton, McCain money game

Democrats out-fundraise McCain.

Published March 21, 2008 8:43PM (EDT)

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign raised a staggering $55 million in February, according to filings with the Federal Election commission, the Associated Press reports.

That has put him in position to outspend rival Sen. Hillary Clinton in the weeks leading up to the next primary contest in Pennsylvania on April 22nd. Current ad spending supports that: "An analysis of ad spending between Feb. 10 and March 10 by TNS Media Intelligence/CMAG had Obama spending $17 million to Clinton's $8.6 million," according to the AP. That tracks with the trend last month, when the Obama campaign spent on average $1.5 million a day, while the Clinton campaign spent $1 million.

"Both Democrats ended up with more than $30 million in the bank, but Clinton can't use two-thirds of her cash on hand because it's only for the general election," writes the AP. "That and her debt left her with less than $3 million in the black. The debt doesn't include the $5 million she lent her campaign in January."

To put the Democratic fundraising in perspective, Sen. John McCain raised just $11 million in February. "McCain reported $8 million cash on hand -- $3 million of which is for the general election. At month's end, McCain still owed $3 million on a loan, but he paid that off this week," according to the AP.

In a single month, Obama and Clinton together spent more than McCain has for the entire length of the yearlong campaign.


By Katharine Mieszkowski

Katharine Mieszkowski is a senior writer for Salon.

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