I were on the Hillary team, I wouldn't be too proud of the fact that they are selling her soul faster and more efficiently than her counterparts.

Argued Mike DuHaime, manager of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani's campaign: "Just because Rudy is popular doesn't mean that you turn on a faucet and money starts pouring out."
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From Giuliani's camp, the spin is that next quarter's fundraising is more important than the first quarter's.

"We didn't have a whole quarter," noted manager DuHaime, referring to Giuliani's initial uncertainty about running. "The reality is that McCain and Romney had their campaigns in place."

Demonstrating her appeal to the financial oligarchy which dominates official American politics, Senator Hillary Clinton reported raising $26 million in campaign contributions in the first quarter of 2007, nearly three times the previous record for any big business politician, Democrat or Republican, at this stage in a presidential campaign.

Clinton confirmed her position as a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in the "primary" that really counts: the contest for the support of the billionaires and millionaires, as well as business lobbyists, Hollywood moguls and the trade union bureaucracy.

While first-quarter reports are not legally required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission until April 15, the Clinton campaign released its report as early as possible, in an effort to intimidate rivals and win favorable media coverage. Similar public relations concerns led her leading rival, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, to delay releasing his own fund-raising figure, either so that it would not be overshadowed by the boxcar Clinton number, or to maximize the impact should he match or exceed her total. ...

Analysis of the figures indicates the extent to which the New York senator and former first lady is the first choice of big business for the Democratic nomination. Clinton led Edwards only narrowly in Internet contributions, $4.2 million to $3.3 million. Most such donations are in small amounts, well below the $2,300 maximum permitted under federal law. It is likely that Obama actually collected more money over the Internet than Clinton. But Clinton prevailed in the number of top-dollar contributions from Wall Street, Hollywood and moneyed interests throughout the country.