From the AP

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 23 minutes ago

MASON CITY, Iowa – If money talks in presidential politics, Sen. Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) has 25 million reasons why skeptical Democrats should start to listen.

The $25 million in campaign contributions the Illinois Democrat reported collecting in the first three months of this year was just $1 million less than rival Hillary Rodham Clinton’s record haul and was a remarkable feat for a novice in national politics.

“He was the newcomer, he was the outsider, and this shows he’s a serious candidate,” said Ron Parker, a Democratic strategist in Iowa, home of the nation’s first nominating caucuses. “It shows he can do a lot more than draw big crowds.”

Fundraising by Clinton and Obama, combined with healthy donations to their party rivals, helped Democratic presidential candidates out-raise Republicans $80 million to $40 million, a surprising role reversal for the usually well-funded GOP.

“That should send a pretty clear signal that people are looking for a change,” said another Iowa Democratic activist, Carl Grover. While he hasn’t donated money to Obama, Grover said, “I’m definitely thinking about it.”

Obviously they just completely overlooked the fact that Giuliani is being backed by Forbes….outraise? I don’t think so Tim.

Updated @ 4/7 12:51am by Nate:

Concerning Forbes and Giuliani, I would think that unless there was money being laundered through back channels that Steve Forbes would be limited to his $2,300 like everyone else? Although, there are a million ways to get around such a thing so anything’s possible I guess.

What’s most interesting is that Obama’s cash came from almost twice as many donors as Hillary. This of course means Obama is appealing to a wide audience while Hillary is relying on the same-old Clinton supports that have always been there.

Score another for Obama.