Barack Obama demonstrated yesterday that he will fight Hillary Clinton every step of the way to the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination by announcing that he had raised at least $25.5 million in the first three months of the year.

The figure is just short of the record-breaking $26 million (£13 million) declared by Mrs Clinton last weekend and will send tremors through the Democrat front-runner’s campaign, which once hoped that its fundraising power would deliver a knockout blow to rivals.

Mr Obama appears to have surpassed Mrs Clinton by raising $6.9 million through donations over the internet, compared with the $4.2 million she accumulated in this way. He also has a bigger donor base of more than 100,000 people compared with her total of 50,000. Perhaps most significantly, all but $2 million of his receipts can be spent on the primary campaign.

Mrs Clinton, by contrast, has not disclosed how much of her money is reserved for the general election.

But her campaign is known to have often solicited $4,600 donations — the maximum legally permitted — divided equally between the primary and general election funds.

Mr Obama’s campaign, which focused on small contributions from donors to whom he can return in the coming months, may have already raised more cash than her for the primary contests, which will decide who wins the Democratic nomination.

He issued a statement yesterday saying that his fundraising total proved “that together a whole lot of ordinary people can achieve something extraordinary”. He added: “And we’re only just getting started.”

Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle, said: “We are thrilled with our historic fundraising success and congratulate Senator Obama and the entire Democratic field on their fundraising, which demonstrates the overwhelming desire for change in our country.”

Indeed, first-quarter financial tallies have the Democrats vastly outpacing their Republican counterparts. Preliminary figures show that the Democrats have raised about $80 million combined, while Republicans pulled in about $40 million.

If there was any doubt that the Democratic nomination process promises to be a hard-fought race for all involved, it should be dispelled by a new opinion poll published yesterday in New Hampshire, where the first primary election will be held next year. It showed Mrs Clinton’s lead falling dramatically, but the chief beneficiary was John Edwards, who has surged into second place ahead of Mr Obama.

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