The Big Money Man

Despite attempts to portray himself as the little money guy, Barack will bring in more special interest, high roller money than any candidate ever.

...records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size.

As with everything in the Obama campaign, the money situation is not as it has been portrayed.

While his campaign has cited its volume of small donations as a rationale for his decision to opt out of public financing for the general election, Mr. Obama has worked to build a network of big-dollar supporters from the time he began contemplating a run for the United States Senate. He tapped into well-connected people in Chicago prior to the 2004 Senate race, and once elected, set out across the country starting to cultivate some of his party’s most influential money collectors.

This won't matter to those who Barack tricked in order to get the nomination. But it will matter to voters looking at him for the first time in the fall campaign, trying to decide if he is the change agent he pretends to be.

The Obama fund-raising operation is meticulously organized. Bundlers are assigned tracking numbers, and the finance staff sends them quarterly reminders of how they are doing in meeting their goals.