Obama at helm of huge grass-roots army 03/04/2008 - 18:21:31
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is “the largest grass-roots army in recent political history”, his campaign manager said today.
David Plouffe said the young Illinois senator raised more than $40m (€25.5m) in March and attracted more than 218,000 first-time donors to the “army” of nearly 1.3 million who have donated to his campaign.
The amount is less than the record $55m (€35m) he raised in February, but will give him a substantial financial edge over rival Hillary Clinton as the race moves through Pennsylvania, which holds its primary election on April 22.
The former first lady is expected to have raised around $20m (€12.7m) last month, but her exact figures will not be released until April 20.
Mr Obama, who is expected to outspend his rival by two-to-one on advertising in Pennsylvania, has mixed high dollar donors with small contributions by deft use of the internet and also has the highest number of donors contributing $200 (€127) or less.
“Many of our contributors are volunteering for the campaign, making our campaign the largest grass-roots army in recent political history,” Mr Plouffe said.
Howard Wolfson, Mrs Clinton’s communications director, said: “We knew that he was going to outraise us. He has outraised us over the last several months.”
But he insisted the Clinton campaign would have the resources they need to compete and be successful in the upcoming primaries.
The news came as various details emerged about the Clintons reaction to New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s endorsement of Mr Obama last week.
While lobbying for the endorsement herself, Mrs Clinton told the former presidential hopeful Mr Obama could not win the election.
“He cannot win, Bill. He cannot win,” she said, according to US reports.
Mrs Clinton’s husband, former president Bill Clinton, was also reported to have gone “ballistic” in one of his “famous meltdowns” when asked about the endorsement at a private meeting of California’s superdelegates last weekend.
Rachel Binah, one of the 15 superdelegates at the meeting, told Mr Clinton how sorry she was to hear former Clinton campaign manager James Carville call Mr Richardson a “Judas” for backing Mr Obama.
“It was as if someone pulled the pin from a grenade,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
It said “a red-faced, finger-pointing Clinton erupted” and “went on a tirade that ran from the media’s unfair treatment of Hillary to questions about the fairness of the votes in state caucuses that voted for Obama”.
One the Republican side, former Vietnam prisoner of war John McCain turned his attention to picking a vice-president who will run with him in November’s general election.
The Arizona senator said he was “getting together a list of names” of possible running mates and hoped to announce his choice before the Republican convention in early September.
“I’d like to get it done as early as possible,” Mr McCain, 71, said.
“I’m aware of enhanced importance of this issue given my age.”
If elected, he would be the oldest ever American president.
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