Clinton Exceeds Obama in Summer Fundraising

Hillary Rodham Clinton outpaced all of her rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination by raising $22 million this summer for her primary campaign, reporting more new donors than even Barack Obama.

Clinton raised a total of $27 million in the quarter, her campaign said Tuesday, but $5 million is designated for the general election and can't be used in her quest for the nomination. Her $80 million fundraising total for the 2008 presidential race puts her on a par with Obama, though he still leads Clinton in money raised for the primaries alone.

Clinton leads other Democrats in national opinion polls, three months before the first primaries.

Obama reported raising at least $19 million from July through September for the primaries and about $20 million overall for the quarter, counting general election money. He has raised a total of $75 million for the primary season and about $4 million for the general election next year.

Clinton's summer donations bring her total primary dollars raised this year to $62 million. The New York senator has raised $17.6 million for the general election.

She also supplemented her primary fundraising earlier this year with a $10 million transfer from her 2006 Senate campaign.

With their third-quarter numbers, Obama and Clinton sit atop the Democratic field in fundraising, comfortably ahead of their nearest rival, John Edwards, who raised $7 million in the past three months for a total of $30 million for the year.

The Obama and Clinton campaigns did not report how much money they have on hand, totals that would signal how well positioned they are to compete against each other in the months ahead. While Clinton leads in national polls, she, Obama and Edwards are clustered closely in polls of Iowa voters. Iowa is scheduled to hold the first contest of the 2008 presidential season with its caucuses in January.

This was the first quarter that Clinton has raised more primary money than Obama, who has given her an unexpectedly tight competition in the money race.

From NPR reports and The Associated Press