Obama’s Money (Not to Be Outdone)

By Jeff Zeleny
The Caucus
(NYT blog)

CHICAGO – With Hillary Rodham Clinton reporting her impressive fund-raising after Tuesday’s primary, Senator Barack Obama chose to report today that he raised $55 million during the month of February, breaking the previous one-month fund-raising record of $44 million that was set in March 2004 by Senator John Kerry. The number essentially confirms earlier reports about his impressive fund-raising for the month.

Last month, 385,101 people made their first contributions to the Obama campaign. For the first time, the number of total donors surpassed the 1 million mark, with 1,069,333 individuals investing in Mr. Obama’s candidacy since it began a year ago.

The breakdown of the contributions include $54 million to be spent on the protracted primary fight, with $1 million set aside in donations for the general election, said Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Obama campaign.

After losing three contests this week, Mr. Obama had been holding onto the fund-raising tally as a piece of good news, hoping to demonstrate strength going into the Wyoming caucuses on Saturday and the Mississippi primary on Tuesday.

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