Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign raised more than $50 million in the first quarter of 2004, a record for any non-incumbent White House contender.
Grass-roots contributions, many made on the Internet, accounted for $35 million of the quarterly total, Kerry campaign manager Ms Mary Beth Cahill said in a telephone news conference.
She said the campaign raised $38 million in March, the month that Massachusetts senator clinched the party nomination to run against President Bush in November.
"Our grass-roots donors have been the backbone of our fund-raising this month, breaking every online record," Mr Cahill said, adding that the campaign is more than halfway to its goal of raising $80 million before the Democratic National Convention in July.
The quarterly total breaks the $29 million record for a non-incumbent presidential contender, which was set in 1999 by then-candidate Mr George W Bush, she said. Since 1999 the donation limit to a candidate has been doubled, which could account for some of the difference.
However, Ms Cahill said Senator Kerry's war chest is still far less than the Republican president's.
President
Bush's campaign has not released first quarterly figures but raised $158.2 million by the end of February. Analysts believe that he has already passed his goal of $170 million before the Republican convention in August.
"We didn't win the money race in the primaries and the same's going to be true in the general election," she said. "We have always known we're going to be outgunned by the Republican money machine."
While President Bush has planned to hold his last fund-raiser next week in North Carolina, Senator Kerry will continue to raise money.
He can do so because he opted out of receiving federal matching funds, becoming only the second Democrat to ever do so along with former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who made the same choice in this campaign. Had Senator Kerry accepted the public money -- and the spending limits that go with it - he probably already would have reached many of the spending caps.
Senator Kerry, who had surgery on his shoulder on Wednesday, has remained in Boston but is expected to resume his public appearances soon. He was scheduled to deliver the Democratic response tomorrow to President Bush's weekly radio speech.