Post-election campaign finance reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission Thursday indicated that in 21-plus months, Barack Obama raised roughly $750 million from donors. At the end of the campaign a cool $30 million was still unused, and it is as yet unclear how that money will be used. In addition, the Obama campaign advises that it expects its total amount of money to increase when the Obama Victory Fund comes in. Media reports indicate that there will be more than $770 million in total receipts. Barrack Obama made headlines when he became the first major party candidate to turn down government funding for the general election, since the launch of the public financing system in 1976.

From October 16 through November 24, including 20 days after he was elected president, the Obama campaign reportedly brought in $110.7 million from more than a million contributors. In that time period, Obama raised more money than the McCain campaign had available to spend during the general election, which officially began after the parties held their late summer conventions.

The most spectacular month came in September of 2008, when $153.1 million was raised, shattering all records to date for presidential elections. Team Obama estimated that its total number of donors is just shy of 4 million for the entire campaign.

The campaign report outlines a large contrast between the Obama and rival McCain campaign and provides the startling analysis that the Obama campaign surpassed the total amount of money raised by all of the 2004 presidential candidates four years ago.

McCain’s fundraising for the 2008 election was $238 million from donors ($50 million more to spend than George W. Bush in 2004), in addition to the $84 million federal grant he received for participating in the public financing system.

Karl Rove was quoted in the Thursday edition of the Wall Street Journal as saying “No presidential candidate will ever take public financing in the general election again and risk being outspent as badly as Mr. McCain was this year,”

A note of interest is that donors continued to contribute to the campaign even after the November 4 election date, lending some backing to the idea that the Obama effort will outlive the presidential campaign, and take on the life of its own in the form of a full fledged political movement geared towards changing America, its position in the world, and existence as viewed by other world entities, all lead by the first African American leader elected to the U.S. Presidency. It is unclear how post election funds raised can and will be utilized by the Obama campaign as regulated by finance laws. Republicans are expected to legally challenge these issues.