The candidates for the US presidency have been raising millions of dollars every month.
Find out below who's ahead in the money race and where the cash is coming from.
FINANCIAL OVERVIEW as of 31 July 2008
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Barack Obama has raised more money than John McCain partly because of the excitement generated by the Democratic nomination battle. His donors had pressing reasons to donate, from January right through to June, while Mr McCain wrapped up the Republican nomination in March.
Mr McCain has decided to take public financing, which means that from 1 September he has a maximum of $84m [Ј45m] to spend on his campaign. The McCain campaign is no longer accepting donations, except to its compliance fund - money to pay for lawyers, accountants and other expenses involved in maintaining compliance with federal election laws. The Republican National Committee, however, can still raise money to support the McCain campaign.
Barack Obama is the first candidate not to take public financing since the system was introduced in the mid-1970s. He will have no spending limit.
The Obama campaign has also broken the mould of US election finance by making big efforts to attract small donors. As a result Mr Obama has raised almost four times as much as John McCain from donors contributing less than $200.
SPENDING BREAKDOWN
By looking at where the candidates are spending the money it's possible to get an idea of where the main battlegrounds are. At first the spending is likely to be concentrated on the states with the most electoral votes but, as the election continues, the campaigns will begin to direct their funds to the swing states, hoping extra money will make the difference.
The majority of a campaign's spending is split between media - the adverts, websites and leaflets that deliver the candidate's message - and administration, which includes offices, salaries and travel.
The campaigns also reinvest a portion of their money on fundraising activities, such as live events and phoning supporters, to generate more donations.
MAJOR DONORS
Anyone making a donation above $200 must indicate their occupation. These figures can be combined with donations from unions, industry associations and political groups to give an idea of who is supporting each campaign.
John McCain is only significantly ahead on donations from retired people. In all almost every other area, Barack Obama is either on roughly level terms or ahead, even in those where the Republicans would expect to be strong, such as real estate, business and finance.
(BBC)
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