Barack Obama

[Luke Hodiak]

Obama raises $25 million, challenges Clinton's front-runner status
POSTED: 4:32 p.m. EDT, April 5, 2007
Story Highlights• Barack Obama campaign: 100,000 individual donors gave in first quarter of 2007
• Senator's campaign says at least $25 million raised for presidential bid
• Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign raised slightly more -- $26 million
• Obama fundraising, recent poll raise doubts on Clinton's front-runner status




WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign announced Wednesday that it raised at least $25 million in the first quarter of 2007.

The total comes close to the $26 million raised by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign in the same time period and calls into question the New York Democrat's status as her party's front-runner in 2008.

The Obama for America campaign said more than 100,000 individual donors had contributed to the 2008 presidential campaign of the senator from Illinois.

"This overwhelming response, in only a few short weeks, shows the hunger for a different kind of politics in this country and a belief at the grass-roots level that Barack Obama can bring out the best in America to solve our problems," said Penny Pritzker, Obama for America's finance chair, in a news release.

Since Obama announced his presidential bid on February 10, his campaign has raised $6.9 million over the Internet from more than 50,000 donors, it said. The online fundraising is included in the $25 million total.

Dan Balz, political correspondent for The Washington Post, said: "I think the challenge for him is to figure out how to bottle up this enthusiasm and turn it into something that can sustain him for a much longer period."

The first quarter of the 2008 fundraising cycle is considered by many to be a reliable benchmark to assess a candidate's viability. The quarter closed at midnight Saturday.

Clinton also transferred an additional $10 million from her Senate war chest to post $36 million in the first quarter.

But Obama's fundraising prowess was the second blow in as many days to Clinton's aim to become the Democrats' "inevitable candidate."

A poll released Tuesday indicated Clinton's once double-digit lead in the key primary state of New Hampshire has eroded since February, while rival John Edwards has made a run toward the head of the pack. (Watch how much Clinton's lead has shrunk )

The CNN/WMUR presidential primary poll, conducted by the University of New Hampshire, found that Clinton was the choice of 27 percent of likely Democratic voters in the Granite State, down from 35 percent in the same poll in February. Meanwhile, Edwards, who was the choice of 16 percent in February, saw his support jump to 21 percent, vaulting him past Obama into second place. Obama had 20 percent, the poll found. (Full story)

Analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia Center for Politics said the amount of money Clinton raised is a lot, but in the political battle of perceptions, it's not enough. "It's impressive, but it's not the knockout blow they had planned," Sabato said.

Some political strategists said the biggest goal of bringing in lots of early cash is to convince contributors there's really only one good bet for their party.

In 2000, Vice President Al Gore and then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush accomplished this in their campaigns, Sabato explained. "That money had an impact," he said. "It convinced the big players in their parties that if they wanted to back a winner, they'd better get behind Gore or Bush."

This time, given how many candidates are raising large amounts of money, the big players may have to hedge their bets. "This is not a coronation. This is a competitive contest for the nomination," said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution.

Sheila Krumholz, from the Center for Responsive Politics, on the record amount of money raised in the first quarter, said: "What it says is that it is highly dependent on money. You can have great skills, a good organization but if you don't have the money you don't have a campaign."

Among other Democrats, Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, raised $14 million during the first quarter; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson reported raising $6 million; Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut reported contributions of $4 million; and Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware has raised $1 million to $2 million in contributions.

Among Republican presidential candidates during first quarter, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has raised $20.63 million; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani raised $14 million during the first quarter; Sen. John McCain of Arizona raised $12.5 million; Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas raised $1.3 million; and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas raised $500,000


http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/04/obama.fundraising/index.html

[Jeremy Dokken]

Obama pulls ahead:

2008 Democratic Presidential Primary
National Poll: Obama 32% Clinton 30%
Monday, April 30, 2007


 
For the first time in the Election 2008 season, somebody other than New York Senator Hillary Clinton is on top in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows Illinois Senator Barack Obama with a statistically insignificant two point advantage over the former First Lady. It’s Obama 32% Clinton 30%. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards remains in third with support holding steady at 17%. No other candidate tops 3%. The survey was conducted April 23-26, 2007 meaning that the overwhelming majority of the interviews were completed before last Thursday’s debate in South Carolina. The impact of the debate will be measured in polling conducted this week.
Following a surprisingly strong fundraising report released at the end of March, Obama steadily gained ground during April. The last Rasmussen Reports poll released in March found Clinton enjoying a dozen-point lead. Since then, Clinton’s support has fallen seven percentage points while Obama’s total has increased the same amount. Obama now leads among voters under 40. Clinton is strongest among those 65 and older. Clinton has a two-point edge among Democrats. Obama has a nineteen-point lead among independents likely to vote in a Democratic primary.
Last week, the two top candidates were tied at 32%. Two weeks ago, Clinton had a two-point lead. Three weeks ago, it was Clinton by five. The week before that, the former First Lady was up by seven.
A separate survey found that Clinton is seen as politically liberal by 52% of American voters. Forty-four percent (44%) say the same about Obama while 39% see Edwards as politically liberal. Perceptions of Clinton’s ideology have shifted a bit closer to the political center in recent months. Obama has moved in the opposite direction—more to the left.
However, while Clinton is seen as being somewhat to the left of Obama among all voters, that is not the case among Democrats. Democrats tend to view most of their leading candidates as politically moderate. Perceptions among Democrats of Clinton and Obama are very similar.
Obama and Clinton are the frontrunners, but Edwards does best in general election match-ups. He leads all GOP hopefuls and is the only Democrat to lead the Republican frontrunner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (see match-ups and favorability ratings for all Democratic candidates.
At this early stage of Election 2008, the public is siding with Democrats on the key issue of the day—Iraq. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of Likely Voters either want to bring home the troops from Iraq immediately or have a firm timetable for withdrawal. In the showdown over the Iraq funding bill, most Americans favor the legislation passed by Congress. Fifty-two percent (52%) oppose a Presidential veto. Looking down the road, just 33% of voters now believe history will judge the U.S. mission in Iraq a success.
Forty-three percent (43%) of voters believe that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign. Fifty-seven percent (57%) favor raising taxes on the wealthy.
Rasmussen Reports has also recently released poll results on the Supreme Court’s ruling on partial-birth abortion, gun control and Global Warming.
Rasmussen Reports releases national polling data on the Democratic nomination process every Monday and on the Republican race each Tuesday. The current survey of 765 Likely Democratic Primary Voters was conducted April 23-26, 2007. The margin of sampling error is +/-4 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Rasmussen Reports continuously updates favorability ratings and general election match-ups for all Democratic and Republican candidates. Also available are ratings for Members of Congress, Other Political Figures, and Journalists.
Rasmussen Reports also monitors underlying party identification trends and has found a substantial shift away from the GOP over the past six months.
Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.
The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Rasmussen Reports’ Election 2006 coverage has been praised for its accuracy and reliability. Michael Barone, Senior Writer for U.S. News & World Report and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, mentions, “One clear lesson from the Republican victory of 2004 and the Democratic victory of 2006 is that the best place to look for polls that are spot on is RasmussenReports.com." And University of Virginia Professor Larry Sabato states, “In election campaigns, I’ve learned to look for the Rasmussen results. In my experience, they are right on the money. There is no question Rasmussen produces some of the most accurate and reliable polls in the country today.”
Rasmussen Reports was also the nation's most accurate polling firm during the 2004 Presidential election and the only one to project both Bush and Kerry's vote total within half a percentage point of the actual outcome.
During both Election 2004 and Election 2006, RasmussenReports.com was the top-ranked public opinion research site on the web. We had twice as many visitors as our nearest competitor and nearly as many as all competitors combined.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/2008_democratic_presidential_primary

[Jeremy Dokken]

Obama placed under Secret Service protection
POSTED: 3:55 p.m. EDT, May 3, 2007
Story Highlights• Illinois senator placed under agency's protection
• Homeland security secretary authorizes protection detail
• Secret Service says no specific threat made


(CNN) -- Illinois senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has been placed under the protection of the U.S. Secret Service, the Secret Service said Thursday.

A statement from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he authorized the protection detail for Obama.

"As a matter of procedure, we will not release any details of the deliberations or assessments that led to protection being initiated," the statement said. "For security reasons we will not release the timing, scope or details of any protective operations."

The Secret Service told CNN no specific threat had been made against Obama.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/05/03/obama.protection/index.html