Jack & Jill Politics

Last quarter, Obama raised 25 million dollars.

This quarter, the Obama campaign has raised 31 million dollars for the Democratic Primary alone.

The pundits and political insiders questioned whether a new leader and fledgling campaign could compete with the big money and massive organization of other candidates who have been preparing to run for years, and even decades.

Well, for the second consecutive quarter, you’ve helped send a resounding answer.

I’m thrilled to report that in the last three months, the Obama campaign has set a new record for fundraising. Thanks to you, we raised at least $32.5 million including at least $31 million that we can spend on the battle for the Democratic nomination.

But as astonishing as that feat is, much more important is how we raised it.

To date, more than 258,000 Americans have contributed to this effort, much of it coming in small donations. This, too, shatters all records and sends an unmistakable message to the political establishment that the same old politics just won’t do in 2008.

Most of the money seems to have been donated for the primary. While the total is impressive, the fact that it’s all short term money suggests that even Obama’s donors are aware of the challenge the campaign faces from Hillary Clinton, who has managed to maintain a sense on inevitability surrounding her nomination despite the challenge from Obama. And don’t forget, we haven’t seen her numbers yet.

At the same time, it’s quite clear that there are hundreds of thousands of people in America who want Obama to be their next president.