Obama Team Clogs Inboxes, Elicits Backlash

But watchers holding Obama to transparency

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is in fundraising mode again, this time for his transition and inauguration, CNN reports; many hope he will honor his promise to steer clear of special interests and big corporate donors. Though there is almost $10 million in public funds available for transition spending, experts say that’s insufficient. Obama cannot use leftover campaign funds for other purposes. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is determined to turn the legions of Facebook friends and Twitter subscribers that got him elected into an effective force for his administration, the New York Times reports. He’s already begun issuing his weekly addresses via YouTube video, rather than radio, and crafted a new group called Organizing for America to coordinate his online efforts. More»

Small Internet donations key Obama success; debate over public funds grows

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama vastly outpaced his rivals in January fundraising, scoring $36 million to Hillary Clinton’s $13.5 million and John McCain’s $11.6 million. The Democratic front-runner drew $28 million online, with 90% of donations at or below $100. Obama is now on the spot over a 2007 pledge to accept public financing; the fundraising-averse McCain campaign has lambasted Obama’s “backpedaling and waffling." More»

That's more than double the proportion from 2007: analysis

(NEWSER) - President Obama continues to be successful raising money through small donations—and this time around, he's outpacing his campaign from four years ago. Last year, almost half of the money raised by the president's re-election campaign came from donors who gave $200 or less in total, a new report from the Campaign Finance Institute shows. In 2007, by comparison, just 22% of the $96.7 million he raised came from donations of $200 or less. In total, Obama raised $56.7 million from small donors last year, compared to the $38.1 million small donors contributed to all of his Republican opponents combined. More»

But still an impressive amount: Politico

(NEWSER) - The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a significant amount of funds in 2011—$222 million—but not quite enough to beat the Bush-Cheney amount from the same period eight years ago. In 2003, Bush's campaign and the RNC raised about $239 million, which Politico did not adjust for inflation. And the $68 million raised by Obama and the DNC in the fourth quarter was less than the $70.1 million raised the quarter prior. More»