Clinton has 31 million dollar for White House run

Washington, Apr 16: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has 31 million dollar in the bank to finance her bid for the White House in 2008, far more than her rivals for the Democratic nomination, according to campaign fund-raising reports filed.

Clinton's campaign said her fund-raising total was the most ever reported in the first-quarter for any presidential candidate.

However, the New York Democrat and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois were evenly matched in their ability to generate campaign contributions.

Clinton reported she raised nearly 26 million dollar in donations and transferred 10 million dollar from her Senate campaign for a total of 36 million dollar in the first quarter. She reported spending 5 million dollar during the first three months of the year.

''These numbers indicate the tremendous support for Sen. Clinton from every walk of life and every part of America, and assure that we will have the resources needed to compete and win,'' said her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle yesterday.

Obama's campaign reported that the first-term senator raised a total of 25.8 million dollar and has more than 18 million dollar cash in hand. Obama reported spending 6.6 million dollar during the three-month period.

Obama's finance chair, Penny Pritzker, said the final tally reflects Americans' ''desire for a different kind of politics.'' Another Democratic contender, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards reported he has more than 10.7 million dollar in hand for his campaign. He reported raising a total of 14 million dollar and spending nearly 3.3 million dollar in the year's first quarter.

Presidential candidates had until midnight on Sunday to submit reports to the Federal Election Commission on the money they have raised and spent during the first three months of the year.

Among other Democrats seeking the nomination, Connecticut Sen.

Chris Dodd's campaign said he would report having almost 7.5 million dollar in hand, while New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson reported having more than 5 million dollar. Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware reported he has more than 2.8 million dollar on hand.

Richardson, a former US ambassador to the United Nations and cabinet secretary, who seeks to become the first Hispanic president, reported raising 6.2 million dollar and spending 1.2 million dollar during the period.

Biden's campaign reported raising 4 million dollar in contributions and spending about a quarter of the total.

The major Republican candidates have released their own fund-raising figures during the previous two days.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who raised the most money among Republicans, and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who raised the second most, reported on Friday they each had about million on hand. Romney had spent about half of the 20.7 million dollar he raised.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona filed his papers on Saturday, showing he trailed his two major Republican rivals. McCain said he raised about 13 million dollar and had spent about two thirds of that, leaving him with 5.2 million dollar in cash and a 1.8 million dollar debt.

Reuters