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Obama raised $104m towards close of polls
Barack Obama's presidential campaign raised $104 million (Dh382.51 million) in the weeks around Election Day, a grand finale to a successful bid that shattered fundraising records.
- AP
- Published: 23:46 December 5, 2008
Washington: Barack Obama's presidential campaign raised $104 million (Dh382.51 million) in the weeks around Election Day, a grand finale to a successful bid that shattered fundraising records.
Overall, Obama raised nearly $750 million during his odyssey to the presidency, and his spending in the eight weeks before the election vastly outpaced that of his Republican rival John McCain, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission. The reporting period covered October 15-November 24.
The campaign said more than a million contributors donated during the period, with more than half donating for the first time. Throughout the campaign, more than 3.95 million contributors gave to the eventual president-elect, his campaign said.
Obama's fundraising sum was more than the combined total of the two major parties' nominees four years ago. George W. Bush and John Kerry pulled in a total of $653 million in the 2004 primary and general election campaigns, including federal public financing money.
The final numbers underscore how pivotal the two candidates' strategies were for funding their general election campaigns: McCain accepted $84 million in taxpayer money through the public financing system; Obama gambled that he could raise far more from private money.
The two campaigns spent identical amounts in June, $25.6 million each. But from there the numbers diverged widely, until a stretch in October when the Obama financial juggernaut swamped McCain. By then, the Democrat was outspending his rival four to one.
The Republican National Committee, meanwhile, was expected to report spending $30,000 on accessories for McCain running mate Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska. The RNC reported in October that it had spent nearly $150,000 on Palin for clothes and accessories. A party spokesman said Thursday that the expenditures were directed by the McCain campaign and that the garments have been returned to the party.
"The accessories used by Governor Palin and represented in the Republican National Committee's filings both in October and December with the Federal Election Commission were the result of co-ordinated expenditures at the campaign's direction," the spokesman, Alex Conant, said.
"Accessories have been returned, inventoried, and will be appropriately dispersed to various charities." In his October 15-November 24 report, McCain spent a mere $26 million to Obama's $136 million. While McCain was limited to spending $84 million from September on, Obama spent $315 million during the same period. McCain tried to narrow that yawning gap with help from the Republican Party, which pumped in millions to promote his candidacy. The party spent $53 million alone on independent ads targeting Obama.
Obama ended with a cash balance of nearly $30 million. He still owed vendors nearly $600,000.
Speaking in his hometown of Chicago, Obama thanked his Illinois finance committee on Thursday night for helping him win the election, telling them it was not the end of their work but the beginning.
Obama made the remarks at a private club, where roughly 100 fundraisers had joined him and his wife, Michelle. He called the event "a gathering of friends". "You know in politics, often times you say folks are friends when what you really mean is they supported you, and sometimes only after it became apparent you were winning," Obama said to laughter. "In this case, it's absolutely true."
The Democrat's fundraising and his spending eclipsed that of his Republican rival, John McCain. Obama was the first presidential candidate since the campaign finance reforms of the 1970s to raise private donations during the general election.
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