Clinton and Obama Battle for 2008 Presidential Campaign Funds

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are locked in a mad dash for campaign cash. One of those Democratic presidential contenders made a surprising admission Thursday about campaign money.
Dueling Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama raised more campaign cash than any other presidential candidates, Democrat or Republican. In the first quarter of 2007, more than $25 million each and a lot of political experts were amazed to see a relative newcomer like Obama matching a veteran like Clinton dollar for dollar.

The second quarter ends on Saturday and Thursday the Clinton campaign is predicting Obama's number will be significantly higher than Clinton's. That's one reason we will be seeing more of husband Bill campaigning with Hillary in the next few weeks.

The Clinton campaign hit the political jackpot last week with this entertaining on-line send up of the last "Sopranos" episode. Featuring Hillary and Bill sitting in a diner discussing her choice of a campaign theme song. Bill, who is still enormously popular in Democratic circles, will be joining her on a bus tour of Iowa next week as she tries to increase her lead in the polls.

But three days after Hillary and her main Democratic competitor, Barack Obama held dueling fundraisers in Chicago, her campaign is making a surprising admission. Her camp has been telling supporters via email that even though she expects to raise a record $27 million in the second quarter they expect Senator Obama to significantly outraise them.

The reason is apparent when you look at Obama's campaign website featuring a live tally of contributors as the campaign tries to reach 250,000 by Saturday, which according to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is "something no presidential campaign has ever dreamed of at this stage."

Obama's campaign spokesman, Bill Burton, said he does not know if they'll outraise Clinton this quarter but they are attracting a record number of donors and raising a staggering amount of campaign cash. In Obama's first national campaign against a Clinton political machine that's been in the national spotlight and raising money for 15 years, Clinton still has a big lead in the polls. But the first actual votes won't be cast for another seven months.

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