Obama, McCain pull in sizable funds for an August

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama raised $66 million in August, a record for a presidential candidate that illustrated his continuing appeal to donors and his robust outreach to new contributors.

The campaign said it raised the money with the help of more than a half million first-time donors. By comparison, Republican presidential nominee John McCain raised $47 million last month, a personal best for his campaign as well. The monthly figures for both candidates were especially noteworthy because August is typically a slow month for fund-raising.

Obama's totals, however, also underscore the challenge he faces in the remaining two months of the campaign. McCain, for now, has a significant advantage because he has accepted $84 million in taxpayer funds under a public financing system that Obama chose to bypass in favor of raising more money.

The combined efforts of the two campaigns and the two national parties left both candidates on nearly equal financial footing with about $94 million at the end of August, according to campaign and party officials who discussed the finances yesterday.

Obama had $77 million in the bank at month's end, and the Democratic National Committee had $17.5 million.

McCain ended the month with about $18 million in cash, which he had to transfer to the Republican National Committee because of his decision to participate in the public finance system. The party committee had $76 million in the bank before the transfer. A party official said the party also had about $20 million in a joint fund-raising committee and in special state party accounts that could be used to help McCain.

But McCain has a head start over Obama with the $84 million in federal funds. By accepting that money, however, he can no longer raise money for his campaign from donors and is limited to spending only that amount. As a result, any additional fund-raising can be done only for the GOP.

Democratic fund-raisers say Obama and the Democratic Party must do even better than their August totals to stay ahead of McCain and the well-heeled RNC. Obama and the DNC raised a combined total of more than $83 million, but fund-raisers say their joint totals ahead should exceed $100 million a month.

McCain and the GOP have been able to stay essentially even with Obama and the Democrats through August because the RNC has had strong fund-raising and low spending. The Democratic National Committee has had lower fund-raising and higher spending.

In August, the RNC raised about $22 million, shy of its $26 million sum in July. The Democratic National Committee reported raising $17.3 million in August, short of the $20 million raised in July.