|
Obama raises $52 million in June |
|
By Klaus Marre
|
|
Posted: 07/17/08 07:29 AM [ET] |
|
Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign told supporters Thursday that the Illinois Democrat had raised $52 million for his presidential bid in June, more than doubling the total of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). The total leaves the campaign in a “very strong financial position,” campaign manager David Plouffe said in a fundraising e-mail. He added that the average donation was about $68. “You continue to prove what ordinary Americans committed to change can accomplish, despite the Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs funding so much of our opponents’ campaign,” he said in the e-mail. However, Plouffe stated that McCain and the Republican National Committee (RNC) “together still have a huge cash advantage.” While the Democrat is far outpacing McCain in campaign funds raised – the Arizona senator collected $22 million last month -- the RNC is lapping its Democratic counterpart. “Our campaign does not accept donations from Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs, and neither does the Democratic National Committee. But John McCain and the RNC have no such standards,” Plouffe said in his fundraising appeal. “Along with the vast amounts of unregulated money being raised by shadowy outside groups, there's no telling how much they'll spend running attack ads.” The campaign manager is making the case that the donors’ money is being spent well, noting that Obama is already airing TV commercials in 18 states, the bulk of which President Bush carried. “We have developed a strategy -- a very aggressive strategy -- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money,” Plouffe stated. |
