Intellectual Property Law

Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign made history Wednesday after receiving $10 million in the 24 hours after her victory in the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania.

Campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe had predicted that the team would raise that amount through the internet during a Wednesday appearance on MSNBC. As of early last evening, the campaign had raised just over $8 million, according to The New York Times.   

The campaign portrayed the massive inflow as part of a broader form of grassroots support as it battles over perceptions in the uphill fight to wrest the Democratic nomination from frontrunner and rival senator Barack Obama. On its "Fact Hub" web site, the Clinton campaign pointed to Real Clear Politics and ABC News' reports that Clinton has received more votes than Obama.

"Estimates vary slightly, but according to Real Clear Politics, Hillary has received 15,095,663 votes to Sen. Obama's 14,973,720, a margin of more than 120,000 votes. ABC News reported this morning that "Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama" in the popular vote," noted the authors of a post on the subject on the site.

*But on its blog, ABC News' senior national correspondent Jake Tapper disputes the Clinton campaign's use of its report as a misrepresentation. He called it a "false reflection of what ABC News reported."

He writes:

"In today's edition of "The Note," ABC News' Rick Klein wrote that "By one (rightly disputed) metric -- the popular vote, including Florida and Michigan -- Clinton has pulled ahead of Obama. But without the rogue states, Obama is still up by 500,000 -- and if you can find another objective measurement by which she?s in the lead, let us know."

...

On the money front, the Clinton campaign reported receiving money from 60,000 donors through the internet as of noon Wednesday, the majority of which -- 50,000 -- were new donors.

McAuliffe said in a campaign statement issued yesterday that the inflow showed a "historic outpouring of grassroots support."

The Clinton inflow breaks the records set by Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul last December when his supporters planned a one-day fundraising "money-bomb" that poured $6 million into the Texas congressman's coffers. Obama's campaign matched that amount post-Super Tuesday in early February.

Political observers continue to note, however, that despite this last-minute rush of enthusiasm, Clinton is unlikely to prevail in the race.

"In reality, it is very unlikely that Clinton will win the nomination," writes CBS News' Vaughn Ververs. "Party leaders aren?t going to want to give Obama supporters ? especially African Americans, younger voters and the new people his candidacy has attracted to the party ? the bum?s rush in favor of Clinton."

*This is an update, based on a note from a reader.

See Also:

• Obama Campaign Raises More Than $6 million Post Super Tuesday
• Obama Uses YouTube To Lobby The Public After Losing Pennsylvania
• Ron Paul Supporters Make History with $6 Million Online Haul ...