New Orleans: Barack Obama has been raising more than $50 (Dh184) per second since Super Tuesday, hauling in $7.5 million in less than 48 hours amid reports his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton's funds are drying up.
Meanwhile, a document from his campaign shows the Illinois senator expects to sweep six of the seven states that vote over the next four days.
Obama visited New Orleans yesterday and held up the city - ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 at a moment when "America's government failed its citizens" - as a symbol of the hope that he espouses.
"It's a city where races and religions and languages all mixed together to form something new, something different and something special," he told a crowd of 4,000 at Tulane University. "An imperfect place made more perfect through its promise of forgiveness."
He also took a shot at Clinton's tactics, stating that "when you actually challenge the status quo then suddenly the claws come out".
In a frantic campaign dash, Obama was due to go from Louisiana to Nebraska, Washington state and then Maine - which all vote at the weekend - before ending up in Virginia tomorrow just under two days before polls open there.
The former First Lady had earlier revealed that she had given $5 million of her own money to her campaign and would not rule out putting in more of her own cash after raising less then half the $32 million her rival netted in January.
Seeking to capitalise on their opponent's woes, the Obama campaign posted a ticking total on its website. In response, the Clinton campaign sent out an e-mail claiming that it had raised $4 million online in 24 hours after Super Tuesday.
Some 40 hours after east-coast voting stopped on Tuesday, the Obama website said: "Hillary and Bill Clinton just gave their campaign $5 million. Since the polls closed on February 5 our supporters have given $7,596,326. Thank You!"
Following Super Tuesday, when he won 13 states, Obama's campaign team has projected in a spreadsheet that he would end up in June with 1,806 delegates against 1,789 for Clinton.
Although this scenario would put him short of the 2,025 needed for outright victory, he would be in a powerful position to secure the Democratic nomination - though the narrow margin might prompt a contested party convention in August.
Obama currently holds a narrow edge in "pledged delegates" - those chosen by voters - while Clinton leads him by a slim margin overall because of her support from many of the 796 party officials who are "superdelegates".
