Obama Bolsters Funds As Campaign Turns Fiery
By: By Jeff Zeleny and Brian Knowlton

Monica Davey contributed reporting.

Senator Barack Obama raised $66 million last month, aides said Sunday, the most prolific fund-raising month of his presidential candidacy but still just a baseline for what the Illinois Democrat has to raise each month to meet his campaign's goals in an exceptionally close and hard-fought race.

After a brief respite from negative campaigning in deference to the damaging passage of Hurricane Ike, both sides resumed fire. Obama depicted McCain as "out of touch" while a McCain surrogate accused Democrats of "ageism" in such portrayals of the 72-year-old senator.

Obama is not taking public financing - the $84 million cash infusion from a government presidential-election fund that Senator John McCain will receive - so his fund-raising burden is considerably higher than his Republican rival's.

But almost more important than Obama's August total may be the fact that it came partly from a half-million first-time donors, most of them far from having contributed the full $2,300 allowed in any general election.

For Obama, the influx came as he formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in a speech viewed on television by about 40 million people. Fund-raising also picked up after McCain announced his running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, aides said.

Karl Rove, the former top political strategist to President George W. Bush, estimated Sunday that the Democrats would end up with a $100 million advantage. But the Obama campaign said it would not file its report to the Federal Election Commission until Sept. 20, making precise analysis impossible for now.

"These are very positive numbers for Obama, and they nearly guarantee him an overall spending edge in the fall," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "Maybe they will calm some of the Democratic jitters, though only better poll ratings can really do that."

He added a caution: "Some of the biggest spenders in American politics have lost to candidates spending much less. But every campaign would rather be the one with more money. The cash buys not just the TV ads but the large on-the-ground staff operations that can add a point or two to your turnout on Election Day."

Obama's previous monthly fund-raising record of $55 million came in February; McCain's best month was August, with $47 million.

Obama drew sharp fire from Republicans by opting out of the public system, counting on raising enough privately to overcome the fund-raising edge the Republican National Committee holds over its Democratic counterpart.

As Hurricane Ike neared the Texas coast late in the week, Obama canceled plans to appear on the season premiere of the popular "Saturday Night Live," instead asking voters to consider the "quiet storms" taking place in the lives of many Americans.

But he also aggressively attacked his Republican rivals, arguing that McCain would do little to improve the country's economic condition.

"John McCain doesn't get it," Obama said Saturday, adding new edge to his words at a large rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. "He doesn't know what's going on in your lives. He is out of touch with the American people."

McCain was attending a Nascar race on Sunday. Palin, back from Alaska, campaigned in Nevada before resuming the joint appearances with McCain that have drawn far larger crowds than he had seen on his own.

The campaign has turned sharply negative of late. The Obama campaign sent out an unusually long compendium of press commentary critical of the McCain camp for ads seen as distorting Obama's views.

"McCain's straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double- speak," said one typical comment, from an editorial in the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times. "It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity."

Fighting back, one McCain surrogate said that Democrats, worried by Palin's energizing effect and the evaporation of Obama's lead in polls, were panicking.

"The Democratic Party is in full-throated panic over Sarah Palin," said Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive once mentioned as a possible McCain running mate.

She complained on ABC that the Democrats' new focus on McCain's age - one new ad notes that he acknowledged not knowing how to use a computer - reflected rampant "ageism." Republicans have said McCain's war injuries keep him from using a keyboard.

Another tough attack came from Rudolph Giuliani, the former New York mayor, who described Obama on NBC as "the most left-wing candidate the Democratic Party has ever had."

Palin, too, came in for some harsh words.

Tony Knowles, a Democrat and former Alaska governor, told Fox News that Palin was not ready to be vice president.

"There has been no vice president that has been less prepared in modern history," he said.

Originally published by The New York Times Media Group.

(c) 2008 International Herald Tribune. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.