Despite Economic turbulence, candidate are still raking in the $$$$

[Neil D]

The sinking economy appears to be having little effect on presidential fund-raising, with both candidates continuing to rake in record amounts of campaign cash.

The Republican National Committee raised nearly $66 million in September, breaking a monthly record and matching the money raised in August by Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, party officials said. The RNC reported it received money from 1.5 million donors this year, 600,000 of whom have never before donated to the party.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain received $84.1 million from the government in matching money during September, but Sen. Obama may eclipse him. Though the Obama campaign hasn't released its fund-raising figures for September, one campaign official said the amount was "obscenely large."

And the fund-raising has continued on both sides, despite the frantic pace of the campaign and the turbulent financial markets. Sen. Obama, who held a fund-raiser in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday at the home of former Vice President Al Gore, was to attend a pair of big-ticket events in Philadelphia Friday. The first was a cocktail reception in a downtown hotel with a minimum donation of $1,000; the second was a dinner at a private residence, a joint event with the Democratic Party. Patrons donated a minimum of $10,000 or raised $50,000 from friends. Rocker Jon Bon Jovi, who has hosted a similar fund-raising fete for Sen. Obama at his home in New Jersey, was to entertain guests at both events.

The Obama campaign has held several other high-profile events recently, including one in Miami that aimed to raise about $3.5 million but ended up grossing more than $5 million.

In recent days, the Obama campaign has been outspending the McCain camp on TV advertising, laying out $17.4 million last week compared with $10.9 million for the McCain campaign and the RNC combined, according to the University of Wisconsin Advertising Project. Sen. Obama outspent the Republicans in every swing state except Minnesota and Iowa, with more than $2.2 million each in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

For Sen. McCain and the Republican Party, fund-raising has also continued apace. President George W. Bush was scheduled to headline a fund-raising reception Friday evening on Kiawah Island off the coast of South Carolina that was expected to bring in $1.4 million for the GOP, party officials said.

Because Sen. McCain took federal matching money, he is technically barred from raising cash for himself, but he can participate in events for the Republican Party, which can spend money to benefit him. Both men are holding fund-raisers in New York next week, where the final presidential debate will be held Wednesday.

Sen. Obama, who took the unprecedented step of refusing federal financing for the general election, has raised some $454 million from the time he began running through the end of August.

Though both candidates are on track to raise similar amounts of money between themselves and their parties, Sen. Obama has one advantage: because he opted out of public financing, he can direct how and where his money is spent. Sen. McCain accepted public financing, so most of the party money he has helped to raise must be spent independently of his campaign. For example, when the McCain campaign said last week that it was pulling out of Michigan and redirecting its efforts, the Republican Party reported spending $5 million on ads in the state just the day before. It's unclear if any of that money could be recouped; Republican operatives in charge of the independent expenditures couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.

Source: Wall Street Journal