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McCain, Obama have different strategies for raking in campaign cash

10:16 PM CDT on Friday, June 27, 2008

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

HOUSTON—Not much seems to spook Barack Obama these days.

“Hillary and I may have started with different goals in this campaign, but we have made history together,” Obama said Friday.

But even with his former foe, Hillary Clinton, on board, the call for cash goes out to voters nearly every day.

Obama Campaign manager David Plouffe sent one out via e-mail Friday.

“We’re running against the Republican apparatus after all, and we think at the end of the day they’re going to have all the money they need to run the kind of campaign they think they need to run,” the video e-mail said.

The difference in tactics is clear.

Earlier in June, John McCain rolled into Houston for a high-dollar gathering of 450 supporters at a River Oaks mansion.

His total take?  $2.5 million in one fell swoop.

But how is that possible when the maximum donation that an individual can make to a presidential candidate is $2,300?

11 News obtained a document sent by the McCain campaign to its big-money donors.

The document asks them to cut a check for $70,100.

The plan is, that money is split up between several different groups.

The $2,300 federal maximum goes directly to McCain.

Another $28,500 goes to the Republican National Committee, and $37,000 is divided between four state parties.

Those states are chosen by the campaign as battlegrounds where the money is most needed.

McCain supporters said they’re playing by the rules, but they would not officially comment on the document.

Barack Obama, on the other hand, is depending on his network of grassroots support, touting more than 4,000 gatherings at homes around the country Saturday.

There are more than 30 of them in Houston. They're calling the effort "Unite for Change."

And all those donations – big and small – are leading to record dollars in all.

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