Obama has $37.3 million in cash on hand, Clinton is $19.5 million in debt, including $10 million to herself

Obama rakes in more cash, Clinton heavily in debt

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-21 23:19:09

Barack Obama, senator from Illinois, now has 37.3 million dollars in cash on hand. ·Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, is $19.5 million in debt, including $10 million to herself. ·John McCain is closing the gap with Obama in campaign financing.

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) --

New U.S. Federal Election Commission files show Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama collected 31.3 million U.S. dollars in April from more than 200,000 new donors, the Washington Times said Wednesday.

The senator from Illinois now has 37.3 million dollars in cash on hand to spend until the Democratic nomination convention in late August, according to the reports.

In contrast, his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, is 19.5 million dollars in debt, including 10 million dollars to herself.

She brought in about 22 million dollars in April, and has 8 million dollars in cash on hand. All told, Obama has now raised 256 million dollars for the primary election, just behind the 262 million dollars taken in by President George W. Bush in 2004.

He has already surpassed the 219 million dollars raised by 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain, the Republican presumptive presidential nominee, is closing the gap with Obama in campaign financing.

He brought in 18.5 million dollars during April, spent only 8.5million dollars, and started this month with 22 million dollars in the bank.

In effect, McCain has whittled down Obama's financial advantage from nearly 5 to 1 at the start of April to slightly more than 2 to 1 at the start of May.

Clinton wins big in Kentucky, Obama reaches new milestone

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-21 12:31:55

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Xinhua) --

Despite Sen. Hillary Clinton's landslide victory in Kentucky, her rival Sen. Barack Obama has reached a new milestone of winning a majority of pledged delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Clinton won Kentucky by an impressive 35 percent margin, but Obama's share of the state's 51 pledged delegates was enough to put him over the threshold.

Obama is expected to pick up at least 14 delegates in Kentucky, that will give him 1,627 of the 3,253 pledged delegates at stake in all of primaries and caucuses.

He will also pick up a win in Oregon, giving him the larger share of the state's 52 delegates.

With 51 percent of the precincts reporting, Obama led Clinton 58 to 42 percent in Oregon.

Obama's top strategist, David Axelrod, said getting the pledged delegate majority was an "important milestone," but not the end ofthe trail.

Combined with the support of 305 superdelegates, Obama is approaching the threshold of 2,026 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination.

The senator from Illinois told supporters in Des Moines, Iowa, that he is "within reach" of the Democratic presidential nomination.

He made it clear that he thought it was only a matter of time before Clinton quits the race, proclaiming that voters "have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States."

But Clinton vowed to continue the fight through the last primaries in early June, "even in the face of some pretty tough odds."

"This is one of the closest races for a party's nominations in modern history," Clinton told supporters in Louisville, Ky.

"We're winning the popular vote, and I'm more determined than ever to see that every vote is cast and every ballot is counted," she added.

Although Obama sees victory within his reach, exit polls from Kentucky once again show a deep division among Democrats, which could get him in trouble in the general election.

Two-thirds of Clinton's supporters there said they would vote Republican or not vote at all rather than for Obama, according to the polls.

Forty-one percent of Clinton's supporters said they'd cast their vote for Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican candidate, and 23 percent said they would not vote at all.

Just 33 percent said they would back Obama in the general election, according to the polls.

But Obama on Tuesday downplayed the idea that his party will have trouble unifying once there is a nominee.

"Some may see the millions upon millions of votes cast for each of us as evidence that our party is divided, but I see it as proof that we have never been more energized and united in our desire to take this country in a new direction," he said.

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