Clinton Breaks Fundraising Record in Bid for White House

Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign team announced yesterday she had raised a record $26m (£13m) in the first three months of this year.

Given the size and experience of her campaign team, it seems likely that she will have outstripped all other candidates, either Democratic or Republicans, in terms of funding.

Ability to raise funds is a vital part of the US electoral process. Ms Clinton may be hoping that this demonstration of her fundraising ability will dent the ambitions of her nearest rival, Barack Obama.

His team did not announce how much it had raised. The deadline for the first quarter was midnight on Saturday, but the respective teams do not have to submit their figures to the national federal election body for a further two weeks.

Mr Obama is believed to have raised a significant amount. Much of the money has come from smaller donors and this more modest approach may yet play in his favour.

The campaign team round John Edwards, who is third in the race for the Democratic race according to polls and who benefited from an outburst of sympathy after his wife Elizabeth was diagnosed with cancer, said he had raised more than $14m.

Mrs Clinton's team said that in addition to the $26m she had raised this quarter, she was transferring to her campaign $11m she had left over from her last Senate campaign.

Bill Richardson, the Democratic governor of New Mexico, said he had raised $6m. Another Democrat, senator Joe Biden, raised $4m.

Mrs Clinton easily outstrips earlier records for the funding raised in the first three months of a campaign. Al Gore raised $8.9m in 1999