Obama raises $3 million in 24 hours

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama has raised $3 million for his presidential campaign in the 24 hours since the first polls closed on Super Tuesday night.

Obama, riding a wave of fundraising both from large donors and small Internet contributors, also raised a stunning $32 million in January.

Meanwhile, rival Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged Wednesday that she loaned her campaign $5 million late last month as Obama was outraising and outspending her heading into Feb. 5 Super Tuesday contests. Some senior staffers on her campaign also are voluntarily forgoing paychecks as the campaign heads into the next round of contests.

Obama and Clinton outpaced all candidates in 2007, with each raising $100 million.

The Obama campaign made the announcement in a fundraising e-mail seeking donations.

Buoyed by strong fundraising and a primary calendar in February that plays to his strengths, Obama plans a campaign blitz through a series of states holding contests this weekend and will compete to win primaries in the Mid-Atlantic next week and Hawaii and Wisconsin the following week.

He campaigned in Louisiana Thursday. The state holds its contest Saturday,

Clinton, with less money to spend and less confident of her prospects in the February contests, will instead concentrate on Ohio and Texas, large states with primaries March 4 and where polling shows her with a significant lead. She even is looking ahead to Pennsylvania's primary April 22, believing a largely elderly population there will favor the former first lady.

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