Clinton Camp Feels Spent, and Outspent

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), an Obama supporter, said he was shocked when he learned Obama attended just one fundraiser in February. Casey, by contrast, attended 450 fundraisers during his 2006 Senate campaign. He said a typical day involved three hours of calling donors, followed by as many as three fundraising events per night. "It was pick-and-shovel work, just chipping away."

Obama spokesman Bill Burton said yesterday that the campaign is "grateful" for the largess and is "using the resources as efficiently as possible."

Clinton advisers said they think that Obama's edge on the airwaves in Pennsylvania has been neutralized by extensive media coverage and that the support of key elected leaders, including Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell, will help them offset whatever organizational advantages Obama may have.

Clinton is also getting help from the American Federation of Teachers and the women's political group Emily's List, which have both spent heavily on mailings and radio ads in recent days. Aronchick said that calls for Clinton to leave the race have boosted her support.

"The suggestions that she should get out and fold it up -- I can't tell you how that whips up energy and passion in people," he said.

While Obama and Clinton have invested heavily to defeat each other, it is unclear how much money, if any, is being spent on preparations for a general-election contest against Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee.

Political strategist Carter Eskew noted that McCain has already begun a series of television ads aimed at defining him as the more experienced and patriotic candidate, much in the way President Bill Clinton used the gap before the GOP nomination was solidified in 1996 to set the tone of the campaign.

"If I were Obama, I would not want to see that happen," Eskew said. "I would think there are discussions where they are saying, 'I can't let this guy have five months of uninterrupted airtime to define himself.' "

Staff writers Perry Bacon Jr. and Shailagh Murray contributed to this report.