Obama enters October with $133.6 million in hand

[babylonsister]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CAMPAIGN_MONEY?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Obama enters October with $133.6 million in hand


WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama reports spending $87.5 million in September. His campaign financial report shows he began October with $133.6 million in the bank.

The numbers illustrate his advantage over John McCain, his Republican rival. McCain ended September with $47 million in the bank.

Both candidates are also getting help from their respective parties. The Democratic National Committee had $27.4 million in hand at the end of the month. The Republican National Committee said it had $77 million.

That makes the stakes a bit closer, with the Democrats holding a $37 million advantage.

Obama raised $150 million in September. McCain is accepting public financing and is limited to $84 million.

[Hope And Change]

1. Great news.K & R!

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. The faux equivalency of throwing in RNC funds is funny

Just last month idiots like Jake Tapper were wondering whether Obama could make up the gap represented by the RNC contributions to Mccain, and he blew it out of the water. The important point is that Obama doesn't even really need DNC funds, so he can compete w/o pulling money from down ticket candidates, unlike the McCain/RNC team. The howls you're hearing from the down ticket GOPers relates to just this point: when will the RNC free up cash for down ticket? When will the McCain campaign be seen as lost, and some salvage operation for down ticket candidates commence. The pressure on the RNC strategists must be terrible right now. They have to choose between giving up on obviously lost Presidential areas and propping up their down ticket races.

Obama and Dean have them in a vice grip, and they've only just begun squeezing them. Remember, Obama's fund-raising juggernaut did not cease on September 30. He's still raking it in, while Mccain must increasingly depend on RNC funds as his $47 million on hand on September 30 evaporates. The DNC can throw 100% of its cash at Red-to-Blue contests, or support troubled incumbents like Kanjorski with massive media saturation. Obama can also send surrogates to do double duty, like he did when the Clintons and Biden spoke in Scranton to help Kanjorski, or when Biden spoke in Washington to help Gregoire.

Combining McCain and RNC funds for the purpose of comparison with Obama/DNC funds is therefore invalid. It misses the actual point of the severe mismatch because it assumes that 100% of RNC CAN, as a practical matter, be devoted to the Presidential race. This is not so. Theoretically, it certainly works, but as a PRACTICAL matter, those funds need to be freed up for other contests.

[nc4bo]

4. Valid and very important points you've stated here. nt

[AlinPA]

3. Let's see: 20M in NC, 30M in MO, 20M in PA, 20M in IN, 30M in OH, ...

[bushisanidiot]

5. "Enters October"? Uh, October is almost over..

the question is, how much does he have left?

[scheming daemons]

6. Wanna bet he'll raise $200 million in October before it ends?