Big Bucks Barack

The Money Primary, which has really become the Media Primary, since the media love money stories, is the biggest '08 theme around right now. But even from the perspective of someone (me) who thinks all this gets a bit overblown, the Obama figure is quite impressive.

This is a guy who was an Illinois state senator just over two years ago, who didn't so much as hint he was running until late last year, who had no national infrastructure, and who isn't married to a former president. And yet his $25-million haul in the first quarter nearly matched Hillary's 26 mil.

Not only that, he had twice as many donors, suggesting a healthy level of grass-roots excitement.

What Barack Obama has bought himself (besides a lot of TV commercials down the road) is several days of positive coverage. By waiting until everyone else's numbers were out (and you'll have a hard time convincing me this wasn't deliberate), Obama gets the news cycle to himself, now that we're done breathing hard about Mitt Romney's 21 mil.

I interrupt this blog to bring you the standard Kurtz Caveat: raising boatloads of cash do not a nominee make. See Dean, Howard, 2004, and Gramm, Phil, 1996. But for Obama, at this early stage, it establishes a certain level of credibility, not just with other donors but with the vast media conspiracy. And it wipes away the notion that Hillary Clinton is going to crush the competition.

Compare the Obama wave with this week's downbeat McCain coverage--fueled by him shaking up his fundraising team and delaying his official announcement until April 25. The media have seized on McCain's $12.5 million take as a metaphor for what they see as his struggling campaign. That's why I say it's really a media primary.

Chicago Tribune: "Sen. Barack Obama's announcement Wednesday that he has raised nearly as much money as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton this year, bringing in $25 million for his presidential bid from a wide array of contributors, shakes up the race and makes it clear no Democrat will enjoy the early dominance the former first lady had been trying to establish."

USA Today: "Obama's success was impressive partly because of the contrast between him and Clinton: a black freshman senator from Illinois with a background as a community organizer and state legislator vs. a former first lady and second-term New York senator married to a charismatic former president."

NYT: "Several Clinton donors privately wondered whether Mrs. Clinton was having trouble converting contributors from her two Senate races into donors for her presidential bid. She began this race with a database of more than 250,000 donors, and received money from 50,000 contributors in the first quarter. Mr. Obama said he began his national campaign with a far smaller database, but attracted 100,000 contributors."

Boston Globe: "Obama's totals not only show him to be a serious contender, but reveal a weakness on the part of Clinton, who now faces a formidable challenge from a lesser-known and less experienced colleague despite her high name recognition and solid fund-raising skills."

Only in this campaign could you raise $26 million in three months and have people question why you're not doing better.

Kos sees good things ahead for Obama: