The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

Democrat Barack Obama reported Saturday his most modest fundraising haul of the year following his unprecedented decision to reject public financing for his White House bid.

Obama collected just under 22 million dollars in May, the last month of campaigning in his grueling nominating duel with Senator Hillary Clinton, according to figures released by the Federal Election Commission. Until last month, Obama had raised one million dollars a day, or no less than 31 million dollars a month between January and April.

For his part, Republican rival John McCain broke his own record in May, but his 21 million dollars still left him behind Obama's fundraising juggernaut.

Obama has raised a record-shattering 287 million dollars since the start of the campaign, fueled by more than 1.5 million small donors who give repeatedly over the Internet.

McCain has collected 117.6 million dollars so far.

Obama ended the month of May with 43 million dollars on hand, a little less than the 46 million dollars he had left in April. McCain started June with 31.6 million dollars on hand.

The figures emerged two days after Obama became the first candidate to renounce the public financing system that was instituted in 1976 to control spending by White House hopefuls after the Watergate scandal that felled president Richard Nixon.

His decision to reject the 85 million dollars in public financing and spending limits that come with it allows him to tap into his army of private donors who helped him shatter fundraising records.