Clinton and Obama Raise $100m Each

Democratic rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama go into tomorrow's Iowa caucuses each with $100m in the bank, easily outstripping all previous records to produce the most expensive election in history.

Much of the money will be used on the 26 caucuses and primary elections concentrated over the next six weeks.

The figures for the last 12 months emerged as a poll published yesterday in the Des Moines Register put Obama on 32%, with Clinton on 25% and John Edwards on 24%. In the Republican race, Mike Huckabee was in the lead with 32%, with Mitt Romney on 26%.

Midnight on Monday was the last day of the fundraising quarter, during which Obama raised $20m. Although the teams do not have to formally declare how much they raised until the end of the month, both the Clinton and Obama teams indicated they had exceeded $100m (£50m). The total raised by all the candidates is far and away above that raised in any other non-election year. George Bush raised $131.8m in 2003 but he was seeking re-election unopposed by Republicans, not part of a crowded field as in this contest.

David Plouffe, Obama's campaign manager, told his staff that competing in the primary and caucus states up until February 5 would need "at least $100m" and Obama had that at his disposal.

Edwards, who has been squeezed by Obama and Clinton, raised about $4m-$5m.

The spending on this campaign is further increased by financial support from independent groups, the extent of which is impossible to gauge. Among these groups, one affiliated to the Service Employees International Union has spent $800,000 in the last few days on radio ads for Edwards, while the Club for Growth, which campaigns for lower taxes, has paid out $700,000 on ads criticizing Huckabee's tax record as governor of Arkansas.

Emily's List, which supports women in politics, is providing financial backing for Clinton. Iowans who do a Google search for "children" or "weather" or "safe toys" will see a link to a You Go Girl ad paid for by Emily's List. Clinton's campaign, which is focusing on women, has been issuing scratch cards, with rewards that include mugs and snow shovels.

Normally, with a caucus near, campaign teams at this stage would be concentrating on getting committed voters out, but given the closeness of the campaign and the number of undecided voters, they were still aggressively hunting for new voters.

The Democratic campaign teams are gearing up for the possibility of an inconclusive evening in which no candidate establishes a clear lead.

The Republican race will be equally complicated. Even if Huckabee wins, the result would be diminished by the virtual absence from the Iowa campaign of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, who are concentrating their resources elsewhere.

The Des Moines Register poll, the last by the paper before the caucus, is out of kilter with other polls which show support for Clinton and Edwards rising, with Obama's dipping. But the Register has a lot of influence in Iowa and the poll could boost Obama's campaign.

The Register poll has reflected accurately what turned out to be final outcome in Iowa in the past.

The candidates will make their final speeches tonight at rallies. Huckabee, who has fought an unconventional campaign, is to spend the evening swapping jokes with Jay Leno on his NBC show.