By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Barack Obama collected $1.17 million as of Nov. 15 for his transition expenses, according to a Web page his camp published today.
For a campaign accustomed to shattering fundraising records, the rate of donations appears barely on pace to cover the estimated $12 million price tag for the two-and-a-half month transition effort. Minus the $5.2 million in federal funds Obama will receive and the amount he has already collected, Obama needs to collect about $110,000 a day from now until Jan. 20 to cover his bills.
At the same time, the president-elect is also raising money for his inauguration, which will no doubt run into the tens of millions. While no budget has been set, President Bush raised $42.8 million for his 2005 ceremony.
Obama has also limited the size of individual donations for the transition and inauguration to $5,000 and $50,000, respectively. Bush capped inauguration donations at $250,000 a person.
Obama is not the only one scrambling to cover the shortfall between what the federal government ponies up and what is needed for post-election planning. The District of Columbia is worried that the $15 million in federal funds won't pay all the bills Jan. 20.
Some highlights among the 1,776 donors listed (a suspiciously fortuitous number, to be sure):
Eric Schmidt, Google CEO -- $5,000
George Lucas, Jr., "Star Wars" creator -- $5,000
Edgar Bronfman, Jr., CEO of Warner Music Group -- $5,000
Former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb. -- $1,000
Vinton Cerf, "father of the Internet" -- $2,500
Former Commerce Secretary William Daley -- $5,000
Doug Berman, producer of NPR's "Car Talk" -- $500
CORRECTION: The original version of this report misstated the amount Obama has taken in.
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