Democrats' rich list revealed
Updated on 16 July 2007
The rich just got richer - and the losers just keep on losing, when it comes to presidential candidates, at least.
The big hitters of 2008 - Barack and Hillary - confirmed their status at the head of the field by raking in more than $30 million dollars each in the last quarter, according to their official filing reports.
That gives Obama an astonishing $34m cash in hand just to spend on the primaries. Clinton, around $33m, with another $12.5m that she can only spend if she wins the Democratic nomination.
As for the Republicans, they're left well and truly trailing. One interesting quirk - dark horse Ron Paul, of Texas: he's managed to attract quite a following on the internet which has netted him more than two million dollars in contributions.
And as for John McCain - his campaign actually managed to spend more than it raised over the last three months - leaving him with a paltry three million in hand, and a $1.8m debt.
His prospects have now practically been written off - although it hasn't - yet - driven him to dip into his family's own personal fortune.
But where's all the money coming from - and what are they spending it on?
Although the candidates are raising more than ever before - John Edwards' $12.5m might have propelled him into the stratosphere in any other race - they're also spending it like there's no tomorrow.
As befits his grassroots, populist image, Obama has managed to recruit more than a quarter of a million individual donors, many of them giving online.
Almost $10m was raised in amounts of $200 or less - which is getting strategists all excited. "He has their names and addresses" said one: "Once they give a little bit, they are more likely to give more and to volunteer for his campaign".
But he's also been raking it in from some of the country's major investment banks, with hefty donations from Lehman Brothers, Goldman sachs, JP Morgan and the Citadel Investment Group.
He also raised more than a million dollars from lawyers - and his biggest source of cash was California, followed by his home state of Illinois.
And he's managed to rack up almost a million dollars worth of unpaid bills - time to post out those overdue cheques, perhaps.
Not that Hillary Clinton is a prompt payer either - she still owes a massive three million to consultants and vendors - more than any other candidate.
Apparently not paying your bills creates the impression that you've got more money in the bank - just don't try that one with the IRS.
Most of her money, as befits the establishment's front runner - comes from large donors; many of them from California, with a large chunk from the entertainment industry.
Another interesting factoid - the Republican's troubled Rudi Giuliani got $118,000 from big casinos - a safe each way bet, perhaps?
Although the candidates are raising more than ever before - John Edwards' $12.5m might have propelled him into the stratosphere in any other race - they're also spending it like there's no tomorrow.
Mitt Romney's splurged more than twenty million in the last three months - far more than the much richer Obama campaign - even more than Hillary Clinton, whose spending spree during her senate campaign was widely lampooned.
But compare the frenzy with the last election - at this point John Kerry and George Bush had only spent around four million dollars apiece.
So much, then, for the much vaunted campaign finance reform and the determination to keep big money out of politics.
There might be limits on individual donations and rules governing where and when it can be spent - but the reality is, the might of the dollar still dictates who's in - and who's out. Money is power. And never more so, than now.
