Obama's June: Nice Haul

$52 million dollars last month. Them's some apples:

Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, raised $52m (£26m) for his campaign in June, his second highest monthly total and more than twice of what his Republican rival, John McCain, received.

Combined with cash raised by the Democratic National Committee, which is also contributing to a war chest for the November contest, Obama and his party have $72m available at present to spend on advertising, staffing and other campaign tools.

"More impressive than the number is how you did it," Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said. "Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people contributed to building our campaign for change. Many were first-time donors, giving only what they could afford - and the average donation was just $68.

"You continue to prove what ordinary Americans committed to change can accomplish, despite the Washington lobbyists and special interest [political action committees] funding so much of our opponents' campaign."

The monthly total – compared with the $22m McCain raised – shows that Obama's fundraising machine has not withered since he beat Hillary Clinton for the party nomination....

...Since much of Obama's fundraising comes from small donors, his campaign has a broad pool of contributors who have not yet donated the maximum $2,300 permitted by law. That means his team can continue to send out appeals for small amounts of cash.

So, if you haven't given yet, throw a few bucks that way. And if you have and, like most of his donors, are far from the maximum allowed (hear that Roger?), throw a twenty a month or whatever you can afford between now and the election.