US:BARACK OBAMA raised $52 million in June - more than twice as much as his Republican rival John McCain - making it the Democrat's second-biggest fundraising month this year.
Although some of Mr Obama's supporters had predicted a June haul of up to $100 million, the actual total was bigger than many reports in the media had suggested and eased Democratic fears that Mr Obama's fundraising machine was stuttering.
The average contribution was just $68, but it remains unclear how many contributions were of the maximum $2,300 allowed and how much former supporters of Hillary Clinton gave Mr Obama.
Mrs Clinton has asked her supporters to contribute to Mr Obama's campaign and the two former rivals have appeared at three joint fundraising events, but some of Mrs Clinton's biggest fundraisers remain cool towards the candidate who defeated her.
Combined with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Mr Obama's campaign now has $92 million cash on hand, almost as much as Mr McCain and the Republican National Committee (RNC).
The DNC said it raised $22.4 million in June, a dramatic increase from the $4.7 million it raised the previous month, but almost $4 million less than the RNC raised.
Mr Obama is opting out of the public financing system for November's election so he will not receive $84 million in federal funds, but will be free to raise as much as he can. Mr McCain will be limited to the $84 million in public funds, but the RNC has performed better than its Democratic counterpart in raising money this year and Republicans are aiming for a $400 million war chest to fight the election.
"We're facing a Republican machine with unprecedented resources at its disposal," Mr Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, wrote yesterday. "Along with the vast amounts of unregulated money being raised by shadowy outside groups, there's no telling how much they'll spend running attack ads."
Until recently, Mr Obama was expected to have a huge financial advantage over Mr McCain, but Republicans have escalated their fundraising efforts.
Mr Obama will need to equal or surpass his June total every month until the election if he is to reach his targets and some Democrats fear that his recent policy shifts could alienate younger voters and slow the internet contributions that have fuelled his campaign.