Clinton Hauls in $35 Mill; Obama Camp Says They'll Do Better

February 28, 2008 11:54 AM

Kate Snow, Eloise Harper, David Chalian and Sunlen Miller Report:

Sen. Hillary Clinton said Thursday she was incredibly gratified to learn her campaign hauled in a record 35 million dollars in the month of February, despite losing 11 contests during that time.

"I was sure excited by the generosity of thousands of new donors," Clinton told reporters in Hanging Rock, Ohio. "It was really heartwarming because a lot of them sent e-mails talking about why they were contributing and it was often five, ten, fifteen dollars and they would write about how they wanted to do for their children."

But while her campaign was reveling in the news, there is word that Barack Obama is ready to out-do her with an eye-popping fundraising figure of his own.

Like Obama’s campaign, Clinton raised the bulk of the new money online.

The Senator said she believes her supporters were spurred to action when they heard that she herself had loaned her campaign money.

"When people found out we didn't have the resources to compete and I did put my own money in it just set off a chain reaction across the country of hundreds of thousands of people saying ‘Wait a minute. We want this campaign to go on.’" Clinton said.

Clinton loaned her campaign five million dollars in late January. The loan was disclosed earlier this month. It has not yet been re-paid.

"The fact that Senator Clinton put so much of her own resources into the campaign I think was a demonstration of her commitment to her own campaign and also a signal to her supporters that she needed their help," said veteran democratic strategist Tad Devine. "And I think a lot of women heard that call and they responded and that is part of success they have had in recent fundraising."

The haul was more than double what the Clinton campaign raised in January—its previous record for one month.

Of the 35 million, campaign officials said 30 million came from online donations. The money included donations from more than 200,000 new donors.

On average, people gave about one hundred dollars to the Clinton campaign, but there were also donations as small as ten or twenty bucks.

Obama’s campaign has also relied heavily on a strong base of internet donors.

In January, the Obama campaign raised a record 36.7 million dollars, in large part on the internet.

"These are people who are committed to candidates because they believe in them," said Devine. "They are contributing low dollar amounts not high dollar amounts."

That, he said, is why Clinton—even in the face of a series of losses and dire predictions—was able to keep fundraising.

"In the past you had to succeed to draw the money that was built on that access and political success. But we are in a different age now," Devine said.

On a conference call with financial supporters Thursday, Clinton Campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said the campaign had raised in excess of 167 million dollars to date.

"We have the resources to play in Texas and Ohio next week and beyond and go all the way through to the end," McAuliffe said in an interview with ABC News.

Indeed, by the time that conference call began on Thursday, the campaign had already launched several new television and radio ads in Ohio.

McAuliffe confidently predicted victory.

"What Hillary’s gonna do is she's gonna win this nomination," he told supporters on the call.

"There are 35 million dollars worth of people who have skipped dinners, not taken medications so she can do this," he said.

"The only thing that tempers Senator Clinton's enormous victory in terms of fundraising is the fact that her opponent has probably done even better," said Devine.

In fact, shortly after the Clinton team released their big number, a spokesman for the Obama campaign said their fundraising haul for February would be significantly higher.

Democrats familiar with the Obama campaign's fundraising operation told ABC News his campaign is expected to have raised north of 50 million dollars for the month.

Still, when Senator Obama was asked about people writing Senator Clinton's political obituary he said he would not count her out.

"Remember New Hampshire?" Obama asked—reminding everyone of the surprising victory Clinton scored there after everyone expected Obama to win.

"If you read the press you would think this thing is over," said Clinton senior advisor Harold Ickes on the finance conference call. "We're a long way from that."

As the Democratic nomination contest heads into Ohio and Texas and for all the latest from the 2008 campaign trail, read The Note every morning only on ABCNews.com