(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-21 21:15

Still, Obama managed to raise slightly more than McCain while still fighting his way out of the Democratic primary. McCain, on the other hand, has been free to consolidate Republican support since he clinched the nomination more than three months ago and has been on an active fundraising schedule.

Overall, since the presidential campaigns began last year, Obama has raised $287 million, Clinton has raised $209 million and McCain has raised $115 million.

Clinton campaigned actively through the last Democratic primaries on June 3 before succumbing to Obama and is expected to have even greater debt at the end of this month. In a call to donors on Thursday, she said she would concentrate on paying off money owed to vendors, not her personal loans.

Of her $10 million in debts to vendors, nearly half - $4.6 million - is money the campaign owes Clinton adviser Mark Penn and his polling firm. Clinton reported spending nearly $19 million - more than $3 million on media advertising and $3 million on phone banks. She spent more than $5 million on travel.

Obama reported spending $26.6 million in May. His heaviest spending was on advertising - more than $4 million buying time for television commercials. Obama had the most expensive payroll, spending $3.5 million on his staff, more than twice what Clinton spent and more than six times what McCain spent on his payroll.

Obama on Friday defended his decision to be the first major party candidate to turn down public funds in the general election. He said he is expecting McCain to have significant help from the Republican Party and from outside groups, though few outside groups have stepped into the presidential election and those that have have spent little money.

The Republican National Committee, however, ended June with 13 times more money in the bank than the Democratic National Committee. The RNC had $53 million cash on hand to the DNC's $4 million. Both parties are allowed to assist their presidential candidates with coordinated campaigns.

Obama pointed out that both he and his wife have been targeted by independent groups and state party organizations.

"So you know, this isn't speculative on my part," he said. "I think it's something that we've seen in the past and it's something that we continue to be concerned about."

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