Another first: billion-dollar U.S. presidential campaign

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Barack Obama looked like a campaign fund-raising champ before this week, just wait.

Now that he has captured the Democratic presidential nomination to face Republican John McCain in the November election, the Illinois senator will try to lay claim not only to many former Hillary Clinton donors, but also Democrats who have been undecided until now.

The result is likely to be another sharp spike in political donations, amid a political race already smashing fundraising records, campaign finance experts said.

"We're easily going to have the first billion-dollar presidential race," said Richard Parker, lecturer in public policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.

Obama had raised $265.4 million from all sources through the end of April, according to the latest analysis of Federal Election Commission records by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, campaign finance watchdog.

New York Sen. Clinton's total take over the same period was $214.9 million, while Arizona Sen. McCain's was $96.7 million.

"A large number of Clinton donors will now send money to Obama, especially when Sen. Clinton endorses him," said Howard Reiter, head of the University of Connecticut's political science department.

In addition, Reiter said, Obama "is likely to receive a lot of donations from people waiting for the dust to settle."