Sen. Barack Obama, who has repeatedly called for limiting the role of money in politics, left California this week with millions of dollars pledged to his campaign for the White House.
His fundraising swing through Silicon Valley, Beverly Hills and other traditional sources of campaign cash illustrated the predicament facing anyone running for office as a reformer while trying to be a viable candidate.
The Illinois Democrat has called for tighter regulation of lobbyists and campaign finances. But he has entered a race in which the Democratic nominee probably will have to raise $500 million. So, as he has in the past, he is turning to the same sources of campaign funds as other politicians: corporations, unions, lawyers, the wealthy and others.
It is, Obama has said, "the original sin of everyone who's ever run for office -- myself included."
"In order to get elected, we need to raise vast sums of money by meeting and dealing with people who are disproportionately wealthy," he said in March 2006 as he urged passage of more restrictions on campaign money and lobbying -- a concept embraced by other Democrats in the race and some Republicans.
Obama is also advocating an overhaul of the tax-funded financing system of presidential campaigns. Like other major candidates, however, he won't use public funds -- because he would have to abide by spending caps considered too restrictive.
"You can't go to heaven without dying," said political scientist James A. Thurber of American University in Washington, who has worked with Obama on campaign finance legislation. "You've got to have the money in order to run.... Even if you're a reformer, you have to get money, or you won't have the fuel to compete."
Details of Obama's early presidential fundraising won't be known until mid-April, when candidates must disclose contributions received in the first quarter.
But a review of Obama's Illinois state and federal campaign finance statements, from his first run for office in 1995 through 2006, shows that he raised $18 million to pay for two winning state Senate races, a failed run for Congress, his 2004 U.S. Senate victory, and a "leadership" fund used to enhance his influence by helping other Democrats win office. Most of it -- $15 million -- was for the U.S. Senate run.
The sums are a relative pittance over a decade of politics: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) has raised more than $93 million since she first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2000, including almost $40 million for her reelection last year.
