The Illinois senator may have raised a bunch of cash, but I keep coming back to two words: Howard Dean.

Senator Barack Obama raised at least $32.5 million from April through June, he announced today, on his campaign Web site, attracting more than 258,000 contributors since entering the Democratic presidential race nearly six months ago.

As candidates tabulated how much money they raised in the yearÂ’s second quarter, Mr. Obama of Illinois appeared to be sitting atop contenders from either party, raising at least $31 million for the primary campaign alone. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, raised about $21 million for the primary, a spokesman confirmed today, and about $27 million over all.

“Together, we have built the largest grass-roots campaign in history for this stage of a presidential race,” Mr. Obama said, adding that 154,000 new donors had signed on in the last three months. “That’s the kind of movement that can change the special interest-driven politics in Washington and transform our country. And it’s just the beginning.”

The question is, of course, whether or not this financial success translates into success at the polls. After all, Hillary! still has great name ID (but bunches of negatives), and Obama's name ID remains relatively low. This is precisely where the Democrats were 3 1/2 years ago, when Dean raised lots of cash and then crashed-and-burned in the primaries and caucuses. Will Obama succeed where Dean failed?

I'll be really interested in the GOP numbers, and whether or not the Thomson effect depressed fundraising among the other GOP candidates (and which ones).

Posted by: Greg at 04:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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