Obama Wallet Strikes Fear in GOP Hearts

Defends use of same tactic used against him in 2000

(NEWSER) - John McCain defended his use of robocalls on Fox News Sunday, arguing his attacks on Barack Obama are different from the slanderous calls that targeted him during the 2000 primaries, Politico reports. “These are legitimate and truthful and they are far different than the phone calls that were made about my family,” he said. On other talk shows:

• Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich told This Week with George Stephanopoulos that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama “eliminated the experience argument."

Candidates' financial strategies illustrate different approaches

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama brought in more donations on the last day of June than John McCain did in the entire month, Politico reports. The unprecedented $25 million day accounted for nearly half of Obama’s $54 million total. It was one of five days on which the campaign brought in more than $1 million; John McCain had no million-dollar days en route to raising $22 million in June. More»

Big money men still Obama and McCain's bread and butter

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama often talks about how much money he’s raised from small donors, even describing it as “a parallel public financing system.” But while Obama has indeed raised record sums from little guys, big donors have kept pace, writes Jay Mandle of the Washington Post, predicting that when the dust settles, their 2008 role will have increased, rather than decreased. Through March, he notes, Obama's small-donor percentage was actually smaller than John Kerry's. More»

Opens fundraisers to press; lobby groups barred from giving

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama moved today to make his campaign more transparent, in keeping with his theme of bringing change to Washington. Obama will open all his fundraisers to the press, Politico reports. He’s also cleaning up his party’s fundraising efforts; starting today, the Democratic National Committee, like Obama’s campaign, won’t accept money from lobbyists or political action committees. More»

Last state to be called leaves tally at Obama 365, McCain 173

(NEWSER) - Missouri, the last state up for grabs, looks to have gone Republican by less than a 1% margin, leaving John McCain with 173 electoral votes to Barack Obama’s 365, the Kansas City Star reports. There are still 3,000 uncounted provisional ballots, but McCain’s margin is large enough to declare him the winner of the state’s 11 electoral votes. More»