Obama's $66 Million Month? Impressive--But He Still Has a Lot of Work to Do

How can you make $66 million in one month and not be sitting pretty? If your name is Barack Obama.

Announced Sunday, Obama's August fundraising haul was, simply put, stunning. Stunning because it broke the previous single-month money record. Stunning because it came from an unprecedented pool of 2.5 million individual contributors, including 500,000 first-timers. But stunning most of all because it may not be enough to establish a meaningful money edge over John McCain's Republican Party and justify the Democratic nominee's decision to opt out of public financing.

The important statistic to look at is the combined amount of cash-on-hand for each candidate and his party (i.e, how much is actually available to spend on getting the nominee elected). Obama may rake in more than McCain, but he also spends more. Plus the RNC, which is handling its nominee's ground game, vastly outraises the DNC. So here's the math. In August, the McCain campaign managed to net a record $47 million for its coffers and another $22 million for the party, finishing the month with more than $100 million on-hand--money that it has now turned over to the Republican Party. It has also accepted $84.1 million in public financing from the federal government. Combined with the RNC's $100 million projected haul over the next two months--all Republican cash now goes to the party, not the campaign--that should leave McCain with about $300 million to spend before Nov. 4. Except for the occasional RNC fundraiser, he barely has to lift a finger to get it. He can spend his time wooing voters instead.

Obama's situation is a shakier. After spending approximately $55 million in August--advertising during the Olympics isn't cheap--the Illinois senator finished the month with $77 million on hand. The DNC chipped in another $17.5 million. That brought the Democratic nominee's bank account to about $95 million at the start of September--or about half of McCain's $184 million. To keep pace with the Republicans, Obama and the DNC must rake in another $200 million or so before Nov. 4, which divies up as $100 million per month--or $17 million more than the $83 million they raised together in August. And they'll have to do it without the benefit of a slower summer schedule or a national convention, which is when donations typically peak. Every second that Obama now spends collecting coin is a second he could've spent--and that McCain IS spending--in Ohio. Or Florida. Or Pennsylvania.

When Obama opted out of public financing, he indicated that he would raise about $100 million a month for his own general-election campaign and another $180 million for the DNC's efforts to elect a Democratic Congress. That looks increasingly unlikely. So instead of "expanding the map" in red states like Montana and Georgia, Obama must now focus on flipping traditional swing states like Ohio and Florida and defending blue states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. As a result, he's been forced to add the occassional stop in a place like Beverly Hills to his itinerary. Tonight, the Democratic presidential nominee will start his evening there at a 46,000 square-foot mansion, then proceed to the posh Beverly Wilshire hotel, where rooms start at $495 a night. Barbara Streisand will sing. And Obama will raise about $9 million. Because when you're running even--or behind--your Republican rival, the important thing isn't making an valiant effort in states you have little chance of winning. It's making enough money to compete in states you can't win without.