WASHINGTON (AFP) — Pacesetting Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton Tuesday trumped top rival Senator Barack Obama, piling up 27 million campaign dollars in the latest round of the 2008 fundraising stakes.
But Obama launched a new bid to slice Senator Clinton's opinion poll lead, claiming she had blundered on the most important US foreign policy question since the Cold War -- by voting to authorize the invasion of Iraq.
The latest jab and counter-jab between the heavyweight Democrats came as the 2008 race accelerated toward first party nominating contests, in three months.
Clinton's campaign trumpeted her fundraising coup which saw her bring in 27 million dollars in the last three months, of which 22 million can be lavished on her primary campaign.
Obama aides unveiled his take for the third quarter of 2007 on Monday and touted his 19 million dollars in primary funding as proof Clinton was not running away with the Democratic nomination.
The former first lady, who leads national and most state Democratic polls also claimed she had attracted more than 100,000 new donors in the period.
Obama laid claim to 93,000 more donors on Monday.
Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said Clinton had raised "substantially more than any other candidate in the race."
Five million dollars of the third quarter bounty can be used only in a general election, in the event that Clinton wins the Democratic nomination.
Clinton's huge three-month windfall came as a surprise, as her aides had been reported as carefully saying she expected to raise about as much as Obama.
There had also been speculation that many of her donors had exhausted the 2,300 dollar limit of contributions to her campaign.
Obama meanwhile took aim at Clinton's 2002 vote to authorize war in Iraq, on the fifth anniversary of a speech he gave before joining the Senate, opposing the conflict.
"There is a choice that has emerged in this campaign, one that the American people need to understand," Obama said in a speech in Chicago.
"Who got the single most important foreign policy decision since the end of the Cold War right, and who got it wrong?"
"This is not just a matter of debating the past. It's about who has the best judgment to make the critical decisions of the future."
Obama is trying to rebut claims by the Clinton campaign that he is too inexperienced to be president, by casting doubt on his rival's foreign policy judgement.
He also used the speech to propose a world free of nuclear weapons, and said Washington should abide by nuclear agreements to set an example for its foes like Iran and North Korea.
Quarterly fundraising figures are a closely watched barometer of the presidential race, offering hints on a candidate's popularity, and capacity to buy crucial television advertising and wage a long nominating campaign.
Obama has now piled up about 75 million dollars for the primary contests. Clinton has raised about 60 million but contributed another 10 million from her Senate reelection account.
"More than 350,000 Americans have already signaled the kind of change they want in Washington by contributing to the Obama campaign," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton on Tuesday.
"We have raised a historic 74.9 million in dollars available for primary spending, without transferring one cent from any other campaign fund and with no money from federal lobbyists or (political action committees.)."
Third ranked Democrat John Edwards said Monday he took in seven million dollars in the last quarter, and was on track for total fundraising of 40 million dollars by nominating season.
Obama, despite attracting thousands of new supporters, and amassing mountains of campaign cash, has failed to challenge Clinton in most opinion polls.
A Newsweek poll this weekend however, offered Obama hope, with the support of 28 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers, compared to 24 percent for Clinton and 22 percent for Edwards.
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