Presidential fundraising separates haves from have-nots

DES MOINES, Iowa: Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Mitt Romney raised breathtaking amounts of money for their presidential bids in the year's first three months. Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain and Democrat John Edwards also broke records. Barack Obama is expected to do the same.

In a campaign season of staggering sums, the tallies for the year's first fundraising quarter effectively separated the big-money contenders from the pack of more than a dozen Republicans and Democrats running for president.

"We now officially cut the fields in half," said Anthony Corrado of Colby College in Maine, who specializes in presidential elections and campaign finance. Even so, he cautioned against placing too much emphasis on the early money leaders. "There's still so much time left."