US rivals file campaign funding

John McCain needs enough money to compete with rival Mitt Romney

Contenders for the US presidential race have given their 2007 fundraising figures, as spending soars ahead of a multi-state contest next Tuesday.

The year-end totals showed Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama with healthy war chests, but Republican John McCain slightly in debt.

Mr Obama's aides also said he had pulled in $32m in January 2008 alone.

The figures come as candidates are spending heavily ahead of the key "Super Tuesday" votes on 5 February.

Democrats and Republicans in more than 20 states are due to vote for their preferred candidate to run for president in November's election.

FOURTH QUARTER FUNDRAISING Hillary Clinton - $26.8m Barack Obama $23m Ron Paul - $19.5m Mitt Romney - $9m John McCain - $6.8m Mike Huckabee - $6.6m Analysis: The cash factor

The candidates' 2007 reports also included fundraising and spending totals for the last quarter of the year.

Republican Mitt Romney has spent the most in total out of all the candidates - although some $35m of his funds came from his own pocket.

Republican John McCain, whose finances were rocky last year, reported raising $6.8m in the last quarter of 2007.

His campaign said he had raised an additional $7m in the first three weeks of January, during which time his bid for the Republican nomination saw a significant boost.

Hillary Clinton's campaign raised $26.8m in the last quarter, giving a total of $107.1m in contributions overall.

In contrast, Republican Mike Huckabee received only $6.6m in the last three months of 2007, giving a total of $9m overall.

Click to see a graph of the candidates' 2007 fundraising

'New donors'

Mr Obama's campaign, which raised $23m in the last three months of 2007, said he was now advertising in 20 of the 24 states in play on Super Tuesday and intended to begin running commercials in seven more states that hold primaries or caucuses later in February.

Mrs Clinton, senator for New York, is advertising in a dozen Super Tuesday states.

Mr Obama's campaign says he has enough cash to advertise widely

Among them are California - which with 370 pledged delegates at stake for the Democrats and 170 for the Republicans is the day's biggest prize - and New York.

"We think that the strength of our financial position and the number of donors does speak to financial sustainability if it ends up going through March and April," Mr Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe told the Associated Press.

"We think we will have the financial resources to conduct vigorous campaigns in the states to come."

Mr Plouffe said the Illinois senator's campaign had attracted 170,000 new donors in January and had some 650,000 on its books overall.

Both Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton raised more than $100m over the course of 2007.

Mrs Clinton, who has not yet released her figures for January, had nearly $38m cash on hand at the end of December, going into the primary season.

A spokesman for Mrs Clinton's campaign told the AFP news agency that what mattered more than money was whether people turned out to vote for her.

"Fundraising is one of the most important markers in the lead-up to voting. But once people start voting, that's a more important measure of a campaign's success," Jay Carson said.

Advertising spend

Meanwhile, Mr McCain's year-end figures for 2007, filed with the Federal Election Commission two days early, show he ended the year with a $4.5m debt but was helped by a $3m loan he secured in November.

The credit lifeline allowed him to focus advertising and resources on New Hampshire, where he won the 8 January primary election.

Mitt Romney spent $35m of his own money on his campaign in 2007

He raised $37.5m for the year and spent $39.1m

He faces a tough battle on Super Tuesday against Mr Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and wealthy businessman.

Mr Romney ploughed $18m of his personal fortune into his White House bid during the last three months of 2007, raising $9m from donors during the same period.

He spent $34m in that time and had just $2.4m left at the end of the year, according to his Federal Election Commission (FEC) report.

In Florida, which Mr McCain won by a narrow margin on Tuesday, Mr Romney outspent his rival on advertising by an estimated three-to-one.

His campaign staff said Mr Romney was prepared to launch an aggressive strategy again going into Super Tuesday, which may mean he has to dip further into his own pocket.

Mr McCain's endorsement this week by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who dropped out of the race following a disappointing result in Florida, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may help his cause.

Online backing

Mr Huckabee, an ordained Baptist preacher and former Arkansas governor, is hoping that his appeal to conservative evangelical voters in Southern states will keep him in the race despite his limited funds.

His last quarter was his best of the year, producing $6.6m in donations and giving him just under $2m in the bank going into January.

His campaign said he had raised $3m online and $1m at fundraising events in January, which may help him advertise in Super Tuesday states including Alabama, Georgia and Arkansas, as well as Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Ron Paul, who has attracted strong online backing, raised an impressive $19.5m in the final three months of 2007, helped by massive online fundraising drives by his supporters.

According to his campaign website, he raised a further $4m in January, which should help him stay in the race for some time. Whether he can make more of an impact at the polls remains to be seen.

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