Barack Obama received a minor fundraising bump after he named Joe Biden as his running mate but raked in huge sums after Republican rival John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential nominee.
The Democratic presidential candidate raised $66 million in August, including $22 million in contributions of $200 or less, virtually all of it sent via the Internet, Obama's latest report to the Federal Election Commission shows. McCain raised $47 million in August.
Obama, a senator from Illinois, also outspent McCain in August, shelling out $53.5 million on everything from television advertising and mass mailings to polling, food and lodging.
McCain, a senator from Arizona, spent $40 million but also benefited from $20 million spent by the Republican National Committee.
One of the most striking differences between McCain's and Obama's August disclosures was donor reaction to the candidates' vice presidential selections.
McCain received $8.8 million in the two days after he announced that Palin, the governor of Alaska, would be his running mate. Obama received $1.7 million the day he introduced Biden, a senator from Delaware, as his running mate, and $694,000 the following day.
Obama's campaign aides said he received additional donations in increments of $200 or less, though dates for such contributions do not show up on publicly filed disclosures.
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds seized on the donations Obama amassed in the days after he chose Biden, saying Democratic contributors were disappointed that Obama "passed over Hillary Clinton, perhaps the most popular Democrat in America."
Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said the donations had nothing to do with Biden, who joined the ticket two days before the start of the Democratic National Convention.
"His choice was an investment in a governing partner who can help get our economy working again, end the war in Iraq and bring the change we need," LaBolt said.
Obama's fundraising took off once the Democratic convention got underway: He raised nearly $17 million from the Aug. 25 start of the four-day convention through the month's end. Obama's campaign attributes some of the donations made during that period to Democratic reaction against McCain's Aug. 29 selection of Palin.
Obama's fundraising has set records for a presidential campaign. He has pulled in $454.8 million since entering the race in early 2007, compared with McCain's $224.3 million.
