IMPEACH BUSH

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama raised more than $66 million in August for his campaign against Republican John McCain, a one-month record.

The Obama campaign added 500,000 new donors en route to surpassing a previous monthly record of $55 million, campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in an e-mail. McCain campaign manager Rick Davis earlier said the candidate raised $50 million last month.

The haul may reassure some Democrats who have been worried that donations for Obama were starting to fall off. Obama has a greater fundraising burden than McCain because Obama decided to bypass public financing for the general election, banking on the idea that he can raise more than the $84.1 million grant and not have to abide by corresponding spending limits.

"There is no question that this will make some nervous Democrats more comfortable," said David Redlawsk, a political- science professor at the University of Iowa. "There has been some concern that the Obama campaign would be struggling to raise enough money in the end after abandoning public financing. This should put those questions to rest."

Obama's campaign said it had more than $77 million in cash at the end of August. He got at least $10 million more soon after, when his campaign had a record fundraising day after Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin gave her nomination acceptance speech on Sept. 3 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

New Donors

"The 500,000 new donors to the Obama campaign demonstrate just how strongly the American people are looking to kick the special interests out and change Washington," Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said in a statement. The campaign said it has now gotten donations from 2.5 million people.

Obama officials played down any fundraising advantage they had in recent weeks, privately saying they were keeping a low profile so donors didn't get complacent. The biggest challenge for Obama's campaign is that his party's Democratic National Committee has trailed its Republican counterpart in fundraising and cash on hand.

McCain's campaign expected to leave the Republican National Convention with $200 million in the bank, counting both his federal grant and the Republican National Committee's funds, a campaign aide said as the convention closed on Sept. 4. Fundraisers were aiming to bring in an additional $80 million to $100 million for the party before the election, the aide said.

Same Amount of Cash

At the end of July, the DNC had $28.5 million in the bank. Added to Obama's $65.8 million at the time, the Democrats had about the same amount of cash as the Republicans, who reported $96.5 million for both McCain and the RNC.

Obama aimed to raise $300 million for the general election, and last month's fundraising puts him on a trajectory to reach that goal. Fundraisers said they're also trying to raise $150 million for the party.

The Illinois senator raised more than twice as much money as McCain during the primaries, and invested in offices and staff to get out the vote Nov. 4. McCain and the RNC are just now building similar operations.

"There is a strategic difference between having cash and having spent a fair amount of your resources in preparation for the battle," Democratic consultant Glenn Totten said. "If Obama can match McCain in the cash on hand over the last two months, and has already prepared the groundwork for a decent get-out-the-vote operation, he will have the advantage."

Conservatives Energized

Obama, 47, an Illinois senator, also has been trying to calm fears among Democrats that he's not doing enough to fight attacks from McCain's campaign as the two compete in a tight race. McCain's choice of Palin energized conservative Republicans who had been lagging in their support of Arizona Senator McCain, 72.

"What happened after the Republican convention and the selection of Sarah Palin?" asked Redlawsk, the political scientist. "Democrats were energized in August, where are they in September? The Obama campaign announced huge fundraising totals during the RNC after the Palin speech, but have they kept up as McCain has surged in the polls?"

Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, suggested that Obama's focus on "big issues" may have cost him some momentum.

The Obama campaign now realizes that "while the predominant way to win this election is still the higher ground, you have to answer" attacks that are "small-bore, nasty, diversionary," Schumer said today on NBC's "Meet the Press."

'Speed and Velocity'

"They hit you, you have to hit back with the same speed and velocity within 24 hours," Schumer said. "The Obama campaign is now doing that."

Obama aides said they are confident that their candidate will have enough money to get his message through. His chief strategist, David Axelrod, told reporters yesterday that McCain's recent emphasis on his ability to "shake up" Washington will help Obama, who often in speeches ties McCain to the status quo and President George W. Bush.

"The only thing that's changed is that McCain now has the temerity to suggest that somehow he represents change," Axelrod said. "I don't think there's going to be a person in America who by the end of these next weeks will not understand who represents change and who represents more of the same."

Polls show that McCain has erased a lead Obama held after his party's convention ended in late August. The Republican is ahead in some polls; the two are tied in others. That means the race is in about the same place it was before the conventions, and it will probably stay tight, Axelrod said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Chicago at kjensen@bloomberg.net ; Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net