Barack Obama's fundraising machine kept printing money last month, with his campaign reporting today that it raised $51m during the month, well ahead of John McCain's $27m.
At the start of August Obama's campaign had more than $68m in the bank, while McCain's had just $21m.
The July figure of $51m was below Obama's record-breaking total of $55m in February, and slightly less than the $52m the campaign raised in June. But by again breaking the $50m mark it suggests that Obama's fundraising operation has yet to run out of steam, and justifies his decision to forgo federal election funding.
There was more good news for Democrats, with the Democratic National Committee reporting that it raised a further $27m during the month. (Its Republican counterpart raised $26m - but says it has $65m on hand.)
The "enthusiasm gap" can also be seen in the total numbers of donors: Obama's committee reports having passed the two million mark in individual donors, while McCain's has just 600,000. But the RNC total, combined with McCain's surplus, still comes to $96m - meaning that both sides will have plenty of cash to play with in the months leading up the presidential election on November 4.
