Final fundraising tally for Obama hits $750m

Washington: Republicans grappled on Friday with the final evidence of the enormous cash advantage President-elect Barack Obama's campaign had against Senator John McCain: a fundraising machine that raised more than three-quarters of a billion dollars.

It was clear in the final weeks that Obama was overwhelming McCain on the spending front, but the final round of campaign finance reports released Thursday showed how big the gap was. From October 15 onward, Obama and the Democratic National Committee spent $161.5 million, the vast majority of it raised by the campaign, while McCain and the Republicans spent $75.3 million. Obama's more than 2-to-1 advantage was buoyed by a late surge in contributions of $104 million recieved after October 15, bringing the fundraising to more than $750 million. It was triple the amount raised in 2004 by President Bush, who held the previous record.

-Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service