Today’s Election News Roundup

A record-breaking number of Ohio Democrats are voting early. According to CNN, 9,600 absentee ballots were requested in the 2004 election, compared to 40,000 this year. So far, 14.1 million Republicans have cast their votes, compared to 22 million Democrats.

In what is viewed as a sign of recovery for her foundering campaign, Hillary Clinton has announced $35 million in donations this month. Last month she reported only $14 million—compared to Obama’s $35 million—and was forced to use $5 million of her own money to keep the campaign afloat.

Obama’s campaign expects to report over $50 million in donations this month. 

In the New Republic blog The Stump, Michael Crowley and Noam Schelber explore Obama’s ability to drum up excitement for his campaign, and Clinton’s knack for scoring voters who decide at the last minute.

The New York Daily News argues that a great vice presidential pick for Obama would be New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg. In addition to economic sagacity, Bloomberg would help Obama cross the partisan divide, give him “anti-terror chops,” and provide his campaign with a rich résumé that shows efficacy in political, journalistic and financial leadership.

In preparation for the pivotal Texas and Ohio primaries, Forbes has created an interactive delegate calculator to determine how many delegates Obama and Clinton will need to secure the nomination.

findingDulcinea has produced a guide to online resources for the 2008 election.

Project Vote Smart describes the process of nominating a presidential candidate, with concise descriptions of the convention, the caucus, the primary and the process of awarding delegates.

An overview of the role of delegates and superdelegates is presented by the Council on Foreign Relations. The Council also explains how delegates are selected, and examines what may happen to the delegates from Florida and Michigan in the Democratic race.

Daily coverage of the 2008 Election is gathered from media sources across the political spectrum, and presented by Real Clear Politics to provide up-to-the-minute coverage. The site publishes daily political transcripts, including addresses on the campaign trail and withdrawal speeches. It also constantly updates and compares polling reports from Rasmussen, Gallup, CNN, Pew Research, and other major media sources. Additionally, the site provides a 2008 Primary Delegate Count, which presents the delegate counts of each candidate.

NPR provides an interactive calendar of past and upcoming primaries. Headline stories that detail the events of the primaries and campaigns accompany the primary map. In addition, NPR hosts a “National Delegates Total,” with an ongoing count of delegates won by each candidate.

Minnesota Public Radio’s online “President Survey” matches the political convictions of respondents with the candidates’ policies in order to help voters make an informed choice come election day.

The New York Times publishes a constant stream of articles from the Associated Press. These concise AP stories cover new developments on the campaign trail.

As election momentum picks up, the Times of London offers British readers a glossary of campaign jargon that will be of use to many Americans as well.

Obama pulled ahead of Hillary Clinton in terms of campaign fundraising in January. OpenSecrets.org compares the total campaign donations for each candidate and looks into the war chests to see where the money comes from.