Web Donations Help Clinton Refill Her Coffers

[DeepModem Mom]

WSJ: Web Donations Help Clinton Refill Her Coffers
By T.W. FARNAM
March 5, 2008; Page A8

After reaching such financial straits that she made a $5 million loan to her campaign last month, Sen. Hillary Clinton has had a resurgence with the support of hundreds of thousands of small online donors. The change in emphasis to small donors mirrors the tactics of her deep-pocketed rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama, and shows the necessity for candidates to use the Internet to compete.

The Clinton campaign has reported raising about a million dollars a day through the Internet since Sen. Clinton disclosed the loan right after the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primaries. By contrast, about half of the more than $100 million she picked up in 2007 came from donors giving the maximum $2,300 allowed by law.

Sen. Clinton wrote an email appeal to supporters on Friday asking for 30,000 contributions in two days. "There's one thing you need to know: I am relying on you to win," she wrote. "You are my best supporters, and over the past weeks you have made this campaign your own."

Sen. Clinton sent out another letter on Saturday saying she had raised the goal to 50,000 after the first target was met in one day. Breaking the goal so quickly may have been by design -- it happened a month ago as well. The Clinton campaign didn't respond to a request for comment.

In February, the campaign pulled in a total of $35 million, nearly matching Sen. Barack Obama's haul in January. Some of Sen. Obama's fund-raisers have reported that his success also increased in February, with a total of $50 million taken in....

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120467661932711841.html