SALON

Obama raised $52 million in June

The campaign's announcement of its second-largest haul yet puts the lie to reports that Obama had been having trouble raising money recently.

Topics: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, War Room,

Well, this should quiet the speculation that Barack Obama had been having trouble raising money recently — Thursday morning, his campaign announced that it pulled in $52 million in June. That marks the Obama campaign’s second-largest monthly total, coming in not too far short of the record of $55 million it set in February. The average donation in June, Obama’s camp says, was $68.

June also marked a big fundraising month for John McCain, who set his own personal record; even that, though, left him far behind Obama — McCain brought in only $22 million for the month.

Still, in his e-mail to supporters, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe warned that the combined force of McCain and the Republican National Committee holds a substantial financial lead over Obama and the Democratic National Committee. “The Obama campaign and the DNC ended June with a combined total of nearly $72 million in the bank. It’s a healthy number. But McCain and the RNC together still have a huge cash advantage, and we need your help to close the gap,” Plouffe said. “ The McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank.” (His emphasis.)

The Obama camp has since had to correct those figures, though, and it turns out the disparity is not nearly so wide. In fact, the Obama campaign has about $72 million in the bank on its own, and according to ABC News, the DNC has a little over $20 million on hand, for a combined total of $92 million.

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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