Update 12/05/2008 Obama Raises $104 Million in 5 Weeks-"Barack Obama's presidential campaign reports raising $104 million in October and November. It marks a grand finale to a successful bid that shattered fundraising records. Overall, Obama raised nearly $750 million during his odyssey to the presidency. Campaign finance reports covering the period from Oct. 15 to Nov. 24 were due to the Federal Election Commission on Thursday. 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. McCain opted to accept public financing. That limited him to $84 million to spend from the beginning of September until Election Day."
Campaign Financing
Obama’s Small Donor Juggernaut More Myth than Reality, Report Shows-"It was widely reported that Barack Obama’s historic presidential win was fueled by an army of small donors, often contributing $5 and $10, at an unheard of rate in American history, but a recent study shows that Obama’s small donor base – and possibly reports of unparalleled youth-voter turnout – was more myth than reality. The Campaign Finance Institute (CFI) study says that 26 percent of donors to Obama’s presidential campaign gave $200 or less, the definition of a small donation. That’s compared to 25 percent for President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign....“The myth is that money from small donors dominated Barack Obama’s finances,” said CFI Executive Director Michael J. Malbin. “The reality of Obama’s fundraising was impressive, but the reality does not match the myth.”...News reports that seemingly overstated the power of small donations in Obama’s campaign are similar to those stories that reported young voters – ages 18 to 29 – mobilized in droves as never before to elect Obama as president...However, the percentage of voters falling into this age category did not soar. There were 17 percent in that age category casting a ballot in 2004 compared to 18 percent in 2008, according to exit polling data from Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International....“All this publicity about droves of young people that were sending him small contributions and it was a revolution in campaign finance was all a smokescreen to cover the fact that he was rejecting public funding, having said he would accept it, and he was taking large major contributions hand-over-fist,” author and former campaign consultant Dick Morris told CNSNews.com. In total, Obama’s presidential campaign raised $452.8 million compared to McCain who raised $204.4 million. McCain was constrained by the same public financing system used by both candidates in the 2004 race, which Obama opted out of this year allowing him to raise an unlimited amount. In 2004, Bush raised $256 million compared to Kerry’s $215.9 million....Voter “turnout was only about 4 million higher, while as from ’00 to ’04 it grew by 20 million,” Morris said. “The big change was that the black percentage rose from 11 to 13. But other than that, it was essentially the same electorate.”...“The fact is that Obama’s financial juggernaut broke records at all contributions levels. The reality does not match the myth, but reality itself was impressive.”
