Paul Joins Clinton and Obama as a Heavyweight Fundraiser

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Paul Joins Clinton and Obama as a Heavyweight Fundraiser

By Joe @ Search Infowars | January 3, 2008

CQ Politics
Emily Cadei
January 3, 2008

Two Democratic heavyweights and a feisty Republican underdog raised the presidential campaign funding bar in the final months of 2007, with donation totals that should far outstrip their nearest rivals.

According to their presidential campaigns, Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, and Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul , all raised about $20 million in the last quarter of 2007, spanning October through December.

Fundraising typically slows during the holidays, but the season didn’t appear to stem the cash flow to the three candidates.

Though down slightly from their fundraising pace through the summer and early fall, the latest hauls for Clinton and Obama pushed both candidates over the $100 million mark for the year.

Paul’s fundraising surge came without the name recognition or mainstream following of Clinton or Obama. Paul’s campaign estimated his fourth quarter take at $19.6 million, which could give him the largest quarterly receipts of any Republican candidate.

Candidates won’t file their year-end fundraising reports to the Federal Election Commission until Jan. 31, but Paul is expected to report about $28 million in receipts for last year.

Paul’s fellow Republicans were far more reticent about releasing end-of-the-year fundraising figures. The campaigns of Mitt Romney , Rudy Giuliani , Mike Huckabee , Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain all declined or did not respond to inquiries about their fourth-quarter finance totals. None of the leading Republicans candidates, however, have been able to match their Democratic rivals in fundraising through the first three quarters of 2007.

With the exception of Obama and Clinton, the Democratic field was also quiet about fourth-quarter fundraising efforts.

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards , who was in a tight three-way race with Obama and Clinton in Iowa, trailed significantly behind his two main rivals in the third quarter, with $30.3 million raised.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson , Sens. Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio reported less than $20 million in total receipts as of the third quarter last year.