Additional $250,000 expected from Clinton members and money drives campaigns...

The public persona of the Obama campaign has been that the money part has been driven by millions of small donors, that this is a grassroots campaign where the lobbyists and big money contributors are not involved. It is completely fair to say that from a percentage wise the Obama campaign has been supported by smaller donors more than presidential candidates in the past. That said, a little over 40% of his campaign donations have come from those donating less than $200.00, all the rest has come from those who donate over $200.00 and it's being stated that:

....the campaign has recognized it will need to expand efforts to raise money from high-dollar donors in order to meet budget projections.

In part by events and expectations like this:

On Monday, Obama spent 90 minutes at an event at the Atlanta area home of Michael Coles, who had led fundraising efforts in Georgia for Clinton. The dinner for roughly 40 people was so oversubscribed that billionaire Ted Turner was on a waiting list until several longtime Obama supporters gave up their seats.

The same day, Penny Pritzker, a Chicago hotel heiress and Obama backer, held a gathering hosted by several of Clinton's Florida finance chairs. For several hours on Tuesday, Obama was at the Washington estate of Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.) before launching a series of major fundraisers in New York at which he and Clinton appeared jointly with supporters. Those events, all of which fetched in the neighborhood of $28,500 per person, concluded yesterday morning with a less costly "Women for Obama" event, at which he shared the stage with Clinton.

Each of the hundreds of members of the senator's main fundraising team has been asked to raise at least $100,000 for the Victory Fund, which spreads money among Obama's general-election account, state party accounts and the DNC. Those joining the committee from the Clinton camp have been asked to raise another $250,000 in money Obama can continue to spend before the party's late-August nominating convention.

David Brooks in the New York Times last week suggested that it was the previous work of the Democratic Party that Obama was selling the party short and he pointed out that lawyers and securities and investment company employees have been Obama's top contributors.

When you check out Open Secrets the world of campaign donations which does drive power is a male dominated world. Even in the Obama campaign men make up 58% of the total contributors and they make up 71% of the contributors on the McCain side. It's clear to see why the concern exists:



The debate of Obama donors versus Clinton donors and why they both need each other has been explored quite a bit in the media, even on Fox along with USA Today raising questions of legality over one Obama fundraiser (which I noticed no one mentioned the fact that the email alone broke the rules - sigh) and credit card companies are happy with the way online campaign donations are going. Most people don't realize the fees taken from what is donated:

Bank of America and American Express have reaped a total of $7 million as a result of credit card fees from the Obama campaign.

According to Open Secrets the Obama campaign has gotten the most donations from Commercial Banks than any of the other presidential candidates, $1,737,257.