Counting her debts, including $5 million she lent her campaign, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ended January with about $1.5 million while Democratic presidential rival Sen. Barack Obama sat comfortably atop a sum more than 10 times bigger.
Obama's campaign said Wednesday he was approaching 1 million unique donors, a fundraising base that already is expanding the $138 million he raised during his one-year quest for the presidency.
Both the Obama and Clinton campaigns spent at a rate of $1 million a day -- $28.5 million for the month by Clinton and $30.5 million for Obama. But Federal Election Commission reports filed Wednesday show how desperate Clinton's financial situation looked going into the all-important Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests.
Her infusion of cash on Jan. 28 helped her buy advertising in key Super Tuesday battlegrounds and jump-started an online fundraising effort that generated $15 million during the first two weeks of February, according to campaign aides. Obama appeared to be at least maintaining his January fundraising pace.
Obama's whopping income makes him the top fundraiser ever in a contested primary.
He raised $36 million for the month, $4 million more than his campaign had initially stated. Of that, about $900,000 could be used only in a general election. Clinton raised nearly $14 million in January, including about $1 million for the general.
Overall, the two remain financially head and shoulders above the rest of the Republican and Democratic presidential fields. Obama has raised an extraordinary $138 million in his yearlong quest. Clinton has raised $121 million. But Obama holds an even bigger edge because $131 million of his money could be used for the primary, whereas Clinton could only use about $100 million.
Among Republicans, Sen. John McCain's revitalized campaign spent $10.5 million just ahead of Mitt Romney, who spent $10. 4 million.
Romney, who dropped out after Super Tuesday, lent himself $7 million in January, bringing his total personal investment in his failed campaign to more than $42 million, according to his FEC report.
According to the reports, Romney and Clinton approached their loans slightly differently. Clinton's loan carries a modest 1.26 percent interest rate; Romney's loan has no interest rate.
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