Obama, Romney Exceed Expectations in Presidential Fund Raising

Read the Full Transcript

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  The numbers are starting to roll in from the first quarter of '07, giving us an early picture of how the '08 presidential race is shaping up.

  The news today was that Democrat Barack Obama raked in $25 million, just $1 million short of Senate colleague Hillary Clinton, who many had expected would be far ahead in dollars. John Edwards was next with $14 million.

  There's also a surprise among the Republicans. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney brought in $23 million, ahead of both former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. John McCain.

  Well, here to help explain what it means and how it's done is Jeanne Cummings. She covers money for the Politico.

  Jeanne, thank you for being here.

• JEANNE CUMMINGS, The Politico:

  Sure.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  We know that the records were broken, and we're going to talk about that in just a minute. But first of all remind us why the money makes so much difference this year.

• JEANNE CUMMINGS:

  Well, first of all, the money, this early money in particular, is a demonstration that a candidate can draw big support. These are all candidates who — many of them aren't that well-known. They need to demonstrate that they can get up there and draw big support from people. And the money does that.

  And it, also, if you come in, in a good spot, it makes people take a second look. There might have been some who thought that Obama was a flash in the pan. Well, if he can raise as much money as Hillary Clinton, people say, "Well, let's learn a little bit more about him." So it sends a signal.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  Having said that, records were broken, both in terms of totals, comparing Democrats and Republicans. A surprise: the Democrats overall far ahead of the Republicans.

• JEANNE CUMMINGS:

  Thirty million dollars roughly. These are still estimates that we've gotten from the campaigns, but it really is a striking turnaround. And it tells us a whole lot about the energy level in the Democratic Party versus the Republican Party and also how well the Democrats have done at mastering the use of the Internet as a way to raise money, because it's a very efficient way to raise money.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And, again, the total for the Democrats was what, $80 million?

• JEANNE CUMMINGS:

  It's about $80 million for the Democrats, and the Republicans came in around $50 million. There are a few million here and there because of the smaller candidates. Some did better than we think are second-tiered, but that's roughly it, $30 million in between.

• JUDY WOODRUFF:

  And you were telling me, this is mirrored out in the campaign, the congressional campaign committees, as well. It's not just in the presidential.

• JEANNE CUMMINGS:

  Yes, this slowdown in Republican giving is across the board.