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Politics

Clinton outpaces Obama with summer fund surge

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton defied the usual slow flow of summer money, tapping 100,000 new donors and outpacing all other presidential candidates in the chase for campaign cash over the past three months.

The New York senator raised $27-million in the quarter - $22-million for the primaries and $5-million for the general election - while other candidates fell victim to the traditional third-quarter dip in fundraising.

For the first time, Clinton reported attracting more new donors in a quarter than her chief fundraising rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. And, for the first time, she raised more primary election money than he did.

Both candidates have now raised about $80-million each since the beginning of the year, Tuesday's updated figures showed.

Obama still has the most donors at 352,000 and leads Clinton in primary money. He has raised nearly $75-million toward the nominating contests to her $62.6-million - a figure that does not include the $10-million she transferred from her 2006 Senate campaign.

In the rarefied fundraising space that Clinton and Obama occupy, the differences are fairly insignificant. Their money sets them apart from the rest of the Democratic field and supplies them with resources to run lengthy and expensive campaigns.

"These two candidates have exceeded all expectations," said Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist and the communications director for John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. "It would take a significant shift in the field or a catastrophic world event to change the dynamics in this race."

Republicans were equally impressed.

"Clinton and Obama are on track to raise in excess of $100-million this year alone - by any measure, a tremendous performance," said Michael Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission and a legal adviser to the campaign of Republican candidate Fred Thompson.

Clinton's fundraising has been remarkably steady from quarter to quarter, showing no dips or spikes and underscoring her methodical approach to the contest. Her third-quarter success came amid a scandal involving one of her top fundraisers, Norman Hsu, who turned out to be a fugitive from the law. As the case against Hsu mounted in early September, the Clinton campaign returned $850,000 to 260 donors whose contributions were associated with him, much of it money raised in the first and second quarters.

Obama reported raising about $20-million in the third quarter, with at least $19-million of that for the primary elections. In the previous quarter, Obama raised nearly $33-million. He reported 93,000 new donors in the summer quarter.

Former Sen. John Edwards, lumped in a cluster with Obama and Clinton in polls of voters in the first-caucus state of Iowa, raised a distant $7-million in the quarter. He has said he plans to accept public financing that could boost his overall fundraising by about $10-million. He reported having $12-million cash on hand.

The cash-on-hand figure will be a key measure of strength as the campaigns head into one of the most expensive stretches. Neither Clinton nor Obama reported how much money they had left in the bank.

Republicans' presidential fundraising was far behind the Democrats'.

A top adviser to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said he would report contributions of nearly $10-million for the quarter, as well as a personal loan to his campaign of more than $6-million. That would bring Romney's overall public contributions for the year to about $45-million and his personal investment in his race to at least $16-million, for total receipts of more than $60-million.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who has kept pace with Romney's fundraising in the past, has not disclosed his third-quarter totals. He has said his campaign income would be on a par with other Republicans.

Fast facts

Also on the trail

-Rudy Giuliani leads the race for the GOP nomination, with 34 percent of Republican voters describing him as the field's strongest leader and most electable candidate, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Fred Thompson had 17 percent, Sen. John McCain, 12 percent, Mitt Romney, 11 percent, and Mike Huckabee, 8 percent.

-Democrat Barack Obama called for ridding the world of nuclear weapons Tuesday. "Here's what I'll say as president: 'America seeks a world in which there are no nuclear weapons.'"

[Last modified October 3, 2007, 01:27:29]