Both the Clinton campaign and the Obama campaign raised big dollars during the fourth quarter of 2007, but it looks like Clinton brought in a bit more.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton edged Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama in year-end presidential campaign fundraising, according to figures released Wednesday by their staffs. But both candidates expect to benefit in coming weeks from a financial boomlet spurred by their early victories.

Obama's campaign reported collecting $8 million in the first eight days of January, and an additional $1.5 million Wednesday from Internet donors, largely because of excitement over his win in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. Clinton, meanwhile, has already started to capitalize financially on her unanticipated victory in the New Hampshire primary.

Terence R. McAuliffe, Clinton's campaign chairman, said Wednesday that about $1.1 million in donations have come in since Tuesday night. "That is without any appeal" seeking donations, McAuliffe said on a conference call with top Clinton donors, urging them to capitalize on the fresh burst of momentum by each seeking to raise $10,000. "Let me say this . . . this is an opportunity for us to blow the roof off the place."

Both leading Democrats have maintained a breakneck pace of fundraising, outstripping their Democratic and Republican rivals. Each reported having raised more than $100 million by the year's end. Clinton's team reported raising more than $24 million in primary funds during the last three months of 2007, while Obama's team reported raising $22 million in primary funds during the period.

Anecdotal evidence seems to suggest that Obama has raised more during 2008 than has Clinton -- at least as of yesterday -- but both campaigns seem to be on fairly strong financial footing at this juncture. As a comparison, it appears that while Edwards did have a good fundraising clip in the immediate aftermath of his second place finish in Iowa, pulling in $1.6 million, during the entire last three months of last year his campaign brought in only between $3 million and $5 million. The loan that the Edwards campaign took out against an expected $9 million in federal matching funds certainly has helped and will continue to help the campaign to survive for the time being, but if there continues to be such a large disparity between the fundraising of Clinton and Obama on one hand and Edwards on the other, it's doubtful that Edwards will be able to have the same type of staying power as the other two candidates.