Obama Touts Number of Iowan Donors — Even Though Edwards Is Beating Him

I got a press release earlier today from the Obama campaign announcing that they have received 1,864 donations from Iowans (also noting predictably that the vast majority of Iowan donations are under $200).

So Iowa Independent did some digging, and it turns out that Edwards is beating Obama by some 600 donations: Edwards’s total is 2,468.

Obviously, FEC reports are coming out and everyone is going to know all of the numbers, so it isn’t like Obama would be able to keep his number a secret. But why send out the press release? Were they expecting their number to be the highest? Or were they going on offense on a point where they would otherwise be playing defense? Or were they just hoping that lazy reporters would write up their press release without calling others for comment?

It’s also important to note that Obama’s campaign is the only one that handles its own merchandise sales, so t-shirt and button sales are included in Obama’s 1,800 but not Edwards’s 2,400.