Washington - US presidential candidates have raised a
whopping 103 million dollars in the first three months this year,
the highest pace ever in US history, with New York Senator Hillary
Clinton collecting about one-quarter of it.
The wide-open race for the White House in 2008 - the first in
decades where no incumbent is in the race - has quickened the pace by
nearly a year, with a long list of candidates throwing their hats in
the ring.
Clinton, re-elected in November to a second term in the Senate,
has raised 26 million dollars.
She is seeking a return to the White House, where she spent eight
years as first lady with her husband, Bill Clinton, president from
1993-2001. Clinton, a Democrat, also added 10 million dollars in
leftover cash from her senate campaign, bringing her war chest to a
total of 36 million dollars.
The previous record for fundraising for this period was Al Gore,
then-sitting vice president when he raked in 8.9 million dollars in
January-March 1999 for the 2000 presidential race.
For the Republicans, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney
reported 23 million dollars for the January to March period of
2007, while former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani filed a total
of 15 million dollars. Senator John McCain reported 12.5 million
dollars.
Following Clinton, the leading Democrat was former vice
presidential nominee John Edwards of North Carolina, who
announced that his campaign had raised 14 million dollars.
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, who is holding second in the
polls after Clinton, has not yet announced his first-quarter
fundraising.
Clinton was widely expected to lead presidential contenders in the
centre-left Democratic Party in fundraising for the January-March
period and is considered the front runner for her party's
presidential nomination.
The first event to decide the major-party nominations is the Iowa
caucus in January 2008, followed by major primary elections in at
least half the states in February.
Among other Democrats, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
reported 6 million dollars, Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd
collected 4 million dollars and Delaware Senator Joe Biden took in 3
million dollars, the Post reported.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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