Clinton socks away money for general election

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to campaign dollars, there's little difference in the bottom line between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Both have raised about $80 million for their White House bids.

But how they're allocating their resources is key: With about $17.5 million stockpiled for the general election, Clinton has been able to convince some of her donors that she'll be the one facing the Republican nominee Nov. 4, 2008.

Clinton "wants to create an aura of invincibility," said Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University in Iowa.

Tuesday, the New York senator announced she had raised $27 million from July through September, about $7 million more than Obama for the third quarter. Obama had been the party's fundraising leader, while Clinton led in national polls for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Clinton said $5 million of her July-through-September receipts will be used for the general election if she becomes the Democratic nominee. Overall, about 22% of the money she has raised since January has been set aside for a battle against a Republican, compared with about 5% of Obama's funds and about 7% of John Edwards' campaign money.

Among Republicans, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani leads his rivals in raising money for the primary fight and general election at the same time. About 11% of his funds raised from January to June will be available to him if he becomes the nominee.

Candidates who don't win the primary must refund the general election contributions to their donors. Any leftover primary funds can be used by the nominee in the general election.

Raising money for a primary fight and a general election is a relatively new phenomenon, according to fundraisers and campaign-finance experts. The 2008 campaign, which has a large field in both parties and a fast-paced nomination process, has led candidates to collect as much money as possible to show their strength and viability.

Many candidates opt to raise general election money now because they "don't want to come out of the primary season defenseless," Goldford said. "Money is their best weapon."