All About the Benjamins

The Obama camp raised a record amount of money during the campaign, and soon they'll be turning on those fundraising engines again.

Obama's campaign raised $639 million during the primaries and general election, more than half from donations of $200 or less.

They'll be using a similar strategy over the next month and a half as they collect money for the inauguration. Obama's transition team has made it clear that they want to stay as far away from lobbyists' money as they can.

John Podesta, co-chair of Obama's transition team, said he wants to make this "the most open and transparent transition in history."

Refusing money from lobbyists is a bit of a new tactic. President Bush raised a record $42.8 million for his second inauguration, with more than 90 percent of the donations coming from executives or corporations, according to Public Citizen.

There is about $9.74 million of taxpayer funds available to pay for Obama's transition, but CNN experts say that's not going to cut it.

But what about all the money that's left over from the campaign? We won't know exactly how much cash is in the tank until Federal Election Commission reports come out on Dec. 4, but as of mid-October, the Obama campaign had spent about $594 million.

That leaves about $45 million, right?

Wrong. No money from the general election can go toward the transition.

So what can Obama do with that money?

He can return the money to contributors, donate it to charity, form a political action committee or contribute to other candidates, PACs or party committees (as long as he stays within federal contribution limits).

He could also hold on to it for a rainy day and use it for a future federal campaign, say . . . a re-election bid.

I'm no finance expert, but if Obama does choose to hold on to about $45 million until he runs again in four years, that's a lot of interest!