Barack Obama obliterated every political fundraising and spending record in U.S. history.

The Illinois senator harvested more campaign cash than anyone before him, using both the Internet and traditional high-roller dinners to bring in more than $650 million from some 3 million donors for his presidential campaign. The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, John Kerry, raised less than half that amount, as did George W. Bush and Al Gore combined in 2000.

Obama’s fundraising revolutionized the way presidential campaigns are financed and may kill the Watergate-era system of providing public money for the general election. His cash advantage helped him defeat New York Senator Hillary Clinton, who began the campaign as the presumptive Democratic nominee. Obama then swamped Republican candidate John McCain in the last two months.

Obama went after the small donors early and returned to them often. He took in $8 million online in the first quarter of 2007, quadruple the campaign’s goal of $2 million. At a February 2007 rally in Las Vegas, Obama volunteers fanned through the crowd, gathering the names and e- mail addresses of people who could be asked for small donations again and again.

Almost half of Obama’s money came from people giving $200 or less, compared with 34 percent for Arizona Senator McCain, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington- based research group. In 2004, 31 percent of Massachusetts Senator Kerry’s money and 32 percent of Bush’s funds came from donors who gave $200 or less.

(Bloomberg.com)