Clinton Tops Obama in Year-End Fundraising
Both Candidates Benefit From Early Victories

By Matthew Mosk
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 10, 2008

NEW YORK, Jan. 9 -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton edged Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama in year-end presidential campaign fundraising, according to figures released Wednesday by their staffs. But both candidates expect to benefit in coming weeks from a financial boomlet spurred by their early victories.

Obama's campaign reported collecting $8 million in the first eight days of January, and an additional $1.5 million Wednesday from Internet donors, largely because of excitement over his win in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, meanwhile, has already started to capitalize financially on her unanticipated victory in the New Hampshire primary.

Terence R. McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman, said Wednesday that about $1.1 million in donations have come in since Tuesday night. "That is without any appeal" seeking donations, McAuliffe said on a conference call with top Clinton donors, urging them to capitalize on the fresh burst of momentum by each seeking to raise $10,000. "Let me say this . . . this is an opportunity for us to blow the roof off the place."

Both leading Democrats have maintained a breakneck pace of fundraising, outstripping their Democratic and Republican rivals. Each reported having raised more than $100 million by the year's end. Clinton's team reported raising more than $24 million in primary funds during the last three months of 2007, while Obama's team reported raising $22 million in primary funds during the period.

The money will be needed in the run-up to Feb. 5, when 23 primaries and caucuses will unfold. Television commercials in California alone could cost the top campaigns more than $10 million, experts have predicted, and many other primaries include costly media markets.

None of the leading Republicans have revealed final fundraising totals for 2007, formally due to the Federal Election Commission by the end of January. The early contest winners on the Republican side -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) -- have both reported a boost in fundraising after the Iowa and New Hampshire contests.

But it was former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney who Wednesday tried to recoup after a second-place finish in New Hampshire with a major fundraising push. Romney brought 500 of his fundraisers to the grand ballroom of the Boston Convention Center, with phones and laptops lined up on folding tables for them to dial for dollars.

The event was a reprise of Romney's January 2007 phone-athon that launched his campaign. Several participants reported that former senator James M. Talent (R-Mo.) boosted their spirits by saying that he believed Romney remained best positioned to capture the nomination. Meg Whitman, the chief executive of eBay, then introduced Romney to a sustained ovation. One fundraiser said the campaign finished with more than $4 million in new contributions.

Another candidate behind the leaders, former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.), reported taking in more than $1.6 million in online contributions after his second-place finish in Iowa. He has also taken out a loan against $9 million in federal matching money, according to a campaign official. He raised between $3 million and $5 million during the final quarter of 2007.

But the real fundraising momentum is with the two Democratic leaders, experts said. Wins in Iowa and New Hampshire enabled Obama (Ill.) and Clinton (N.Y.) to "use their victories as an opportunity to add to their base of support, while those who lost are doing everything in their power to keep supporters from defecting," said Scott Darling, a veteran Democratic fundraiser. "Now that you have split victories, the faithful on each side have renewed confidence in their respective candidates."

In an interview Wednesday, McAuliffe said the campaign is beginning to try to woo financial support from those who backed Sens. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.), who both dropped out of the race after Iowa. Obama finance officials began courting the same potential donors a week earlier.

More than 700 Obama supporters gathered Wednesday night in the ballroom of the Grand Hyatt in Midtown Manhattan to hear the senator. Top Obama finance officials were there, as were Hollywood celebrities such as Richard Gere. Some of those present said they had just decided to attend, because of the excitement that followed Obama's strong showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The New York event was expected to raise more than $750,000.

Staff writer John Solomon contributed to this report.