Obama in the money

Whilst news of financial crisis intensifies, it appears that Barack Obama is bucking the trend and continues to smash fundraising records. Here the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza reports

Barack Obama’s massive spending on television—$21 million for the first week of October alone—coupled with his decision to buy 30 minutes of prime time television at the end of the month has stoked rumors that the Illinois senator may have shattered all fundraising records for the month of September.

According to a Fix calculation of spending in the week beginning Sept. 30 and ending Oct. 6, Obama outspent John McCain roughly three to one—$21 million to $7 million. (Spending by the Republican National Committee’s independent expenditure arm helped even the playing field slightly, although Obama still outspent the combined GOP forces by $8 million in that week alone.)

And, late last week, it was revealed that Obama is seeking to buy a roadblock (a coordinated block of time on every national broadcast network) for 8 pm on Oct. 29. He already has purchased a half-hour of TV time on CBS and NBC—at a cost of roughly $1 million each—and is seeking time on Fox and ABC as well.

The last candidate to make such a play on broadcast television was Ross Perot way back in 1992. He ran a series of political infomercials, the largest of which—on Nov. 2, 1992—drew 26 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Watch television (or listen to the radio) in any swing state—The Fix spent a night in Scranton over the weekend—and the dominance of Obama over McCain on television becomes readily apparent.

Obama’s massive fundraising—whether it winds up at $70, $80, $90 or $100 million in September (and October)—justifies the political savvy of the Illinois senator’s decision to go back on his previous pledge to accept public financing for the general election.

While McCain, who did accept public funds, is limited to roughly $84 million in the general election, Obama has been free to raise and spend what he likes—leading to huge spending edges in emerging battlegrounds like Florida, North Carolina and Indiana.

Obama’s unprecendented fundraising ability combined with the incredibly toxic political environment (more on that later today) makes the Illinois senator a decided favorite with 22 days remaining before the fall election.

Obama Month by Month Fundraising
January: $36.8 million
February: $56.7 million
March: $42.8 million
April: $31.9 million
May: $23.4 million
June: $54.2 million
July: $51.4 million
August: $67.5 million