Lynn Sweet (Chicago Sun-Times):
First-quarter fund-raising reports filed Sunday reveal a mixed story for Democratic White House front-runners Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton: Clinton has more cash on hand, but Obama outraised her in the first three months of the year.Howie P.S.: The NY Times has "Donors Linked to the Clintons Shift to Obama" today.Overall, the strong showing of Obama in raising primary cash --$24.8 million to Clinton's $19.1 million -- indicates his deep potential, considering that Obama scrambled to put together a national organization and Clinton had much of her infrastructure in place.
To this point, Obama nearly equaled Clinton in total fund-raising for the primary and general election, bringing in $25.8 million to Clinton's $26 million.
Money collected for the general election cannot be spent in the primary campaign.
The Chicago Sun-Times earlier this month reported that Obama bested Clinton in primary fund-raising; financial reports filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission made it official and provide more insights into Obama's and Clinton's massive fund-raising drives.
An important figure is the amount of money a candidate has on hand. Stockpiling money is especially important this election cycle because of the prospect of what amounts to a national primary next Feb. 5, which will involve expensive media buys in a host of states.
Clinton has $24 million on hand for the primary, compared with Obama's $18.2 million and $10.7 million for John Edwards, enough to keep him in the top tier of Democratic contenders.
Clinton transferred $10 million to her presidential campaign, money remaining from her 2006 Senate war chest.
Counting general and primary election money, Clinton has $30.9 million cash on hand, compared with Obama's $19.1 million overall total.
California tops for Obama
On the spending side, the reports reveal that Obama and Clinton are presiding over sprawling political organizations. Obama had a first-quarter payroll of $909,462, compared with Clinton's payout of $1.037 million for salaries.
Overall, Clinton's disbursements amounted to $5 million, to Obama's $6.5 million. However, since Clinton has debt of more than $1.5 million to campaign vendors who deferred payments, the two front-runners are keeping pace in actual spending.
According to an analysis of primary and general fund-raising by the nonpartisan PoliticalMoneyline, Obama collected the most contributions from California ($4.1 million), more than from his own Illinois ($3.7 million), trailed by New York ($2.7 million) and Florida ($1 million.)
Clinton's top donations were from her home state, New York ($7 million), followed by California ($5 million), Washington, D.C. ($3.5 million), and Florida ($1.8 million.)
"These numbers indicate the tremendous support for Senator Clinton from every walk of life and every part of America, and assure that we will have the resources needed to compete and win," Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said in a statement.
Obama Finance Chairwoman Penny Pritzker said: "The final tally of support from the American people is true testament to the desire for a different kind of politics in this country and a belief at the grass-roots level that Barack Obama can bring out the best in America to solve our problems."
Obama is on pace to take in at least $1 million at a Chicago fund-raiser today at the Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michigan, aimed at female donors and featuring Michelle Obama as well as Barack Obama, who also makes his debut as a presidential candidate in Wisconsin at a rally in Milwaukee.
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