Obama just reported that he raised $25M to Hilary's $26M in the first quarter:
[url]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,263921,00.html[/url]
Obviously, at first blush, she has raised more money, and technically she has. Reading between the lines, though, it seems pretty clear that he is in a better spot and likely eclipsed her fundraising for the primaries. Check it out:
[LIST] [*]Obama has raised at least $23.5 million for the primary. Hilary has not disclosed how her $26M is broken down between the general election and the primary -- but since donors are capped at $2300 per election (i.e., $4600 total between the general election and primary) and she has had a number of events where she solicited $4600 all at one time, it is likely that she can't tap a significant amount of that money for the primary, which is likely to be extremely important. Unless she quickly announces that she has an amount earmarked for the primaries in response, I think we can assume that it's less than $23.5M.
[*]Hilary raised her $26M using half the number of donors Obama used. Concentrating donations amongst a smaller group of people + asking for the maximum [B]for both elections[/B] up front = a smaller base of willing donors who aren't already maxed out. She might have the best start, but staying power could be an issue for her going forward...
[*]With Hilary's long-existing fundraising infrastructure, even coming close to her ought to be considered a minor victory for Obama.
[*]Obama has raised almost $7M over the internet. No event, no face-to-face meeting, just sending money. That's huge. [/LIST]
I really like the guy, so I'm biased, but I do think this bodes well for him.