Barack Obama
began the month of April with a 5-1 cash advantage over a
debt-saddled Hillary Rodham Clinton, setting the stage for
his lopsided spending in the crucial primary state of
Pennsylvania.
Financial reports
filed Sunday by the Democratic presidential candidates
with the Federal Election Commission show Clinton had $10.3
million in debts at the start of the month and only
about $9 million cash on hand for the primaries. Obama
reported having $42 million for the primary.
Clinton's red ink
poses yet another obstacle to her campaign as she seeks
to end the primary season with a string of victories. She
trails Obama in delegates, states won and popular
votes. And she cannot dent Obama's superior
fund-raising.
The March money
positioned Obama to undertake an expensive April campaign
in Pennsylvania, where he has spent at least twice as much
as Clinton and cut into her lead. Pennsylvania votes
on Tuesday.
Clinton, who had
kept pace with Obama financially throughout last year,
had even less cash on hand than Republican John McCain.
McCain raised $15.2 million in March and had $11.6
million in the bank at the start of April. It was his
best fund-raising performance of the campaign, coming
after he had essentially secured his party's presidential
nomination.
With the
Democratic contest still in full boil, McCain has been on
the sidelines, saving his money and completing
payments on a loan.
Nearly half of
Clinton's debt in March is money owed to the firm of her
demoted former chief strategist, Mark Penn. The report shows
that the campaign owes $4.6 million to Penn, Schoen,
& Berland Associates. The campaign has already
paid the firm $14 million, including $3 million in
March for polling and direct mail.
Clinton took away
Penn's role as chief adviser earlier this month after
he met with Colombian officials to discuss his private work
on behalf of a Colombian free trade agreement, a trade
deal Clinton opposes.
Obama's
fund-raising in March led all candidates but was still lower
than the mark he set in February, when he raised more
than $55 million. The Illinois senator has raised $235
million in his campaign.
Money alone has
not guaranteed Obama victories. He spent $30.6 million in
March to Clinton's $22 million. The month began with tough
contests in Ohio and Texas. He lost the popular vote
to Clinton in both state primaries even though he
outspent her, but he emerged with more delegates in
Texas.
His report showed
he spent $9 million on media advertising in March;
Clinton spent less than a third of that. Obama spent nearly
$5 million on telemarketing and $3.6 million for
travel and lodging. Clinton spent about $5 million on
travel and about $2 million on phone banks.
Clinton spokesman
Jay Carson said Clinton's online fund-raising is on the
rise and noted that the March figures do not include the
$2.5 million she raised last week at an Elton John
concert in New York. Carson said the event's total sum
included money from 6,000 new donors.
In January,
Clinton made a $5 million personal loan to the campaign. The
campaign has reported no other personal loans since.
McCain's biggest
expense of the month was $3 million to Fidelity &
Trust Bank to finish paying off a $4 million loan that had
become the focus of a stalemate between McCain and the
FEC. Campaign finance regulators want to make sure
McCain did not use the promise of public financing in
the primary to secure the loan. McCain was eligible for
public financing in the primary, but his lawyers said they
did not use that eligibility as collateral.
He also refunded
donors about $3 million in contributions, most of it
money he had received for the general election. The refunds
set the stage for McCain to accept about $84 million
in public funds for the fall campaign. Candidates who
accept public financing cannot raise money from donors
for the general election campaign.
In March, his
operating expenses were $5 million, his smallest monthly
expense so far this year.
McCain's March
expenses ranged from $758,000 for air charters to $151.55
to a Los Angeles florist. The campaign reported a debt of
$707,000, much of it outstanding American Express
billings. McCain had his greatest fund-raising success
in California and Florida, each of which yielded more
than $1 million. (Jim Kuhnhenn, AP)
