Now that Obama has eschewed federal financing of his campaign, he is entirely beholden to his supporters for money to run his campaign.

He thinks he can raise $200-$300 million between now and September  in order to swamp John McCain's taxpayer sponsored campaign. If that is his goal, $52 million raised in June might net him $200-225 million when all the fundraising whales get finished raising their portion of the total.

Is that enough? And perhaps a better question, is it the right strategy?

Obama is spending most of his time these days appearing before fat cats paying $1000 a plate to hear him speak. He is probably spending a lot of time on the phone also, urging his big money fundraisers to increase their efforts.

This leaves a lot less time for getting out and meeting the voters. No doubt when Obama swings through a town, there are disappointed supporters who, due to the size limitations of the venue, were unable to get tickets and hear him in person. But it is those voters who honestly don't know much about him who aren't learning much since the candidate spends so much time in fundraising mode.

Will this come back to haunt him in November? Hard to say. He is going to have all the money he needs and then some for advertising. And he will depend on a huge army of volunteers to plead his cause to undecideds - probably a better way to reach the voter anyway.

On the other hand, if this race pivots on a ridiculously small number of states - 3 or 4 - Obama not tending his garden in July-August might mean it will sprout weeds in November and kill his candidacy.

Not a pleasant thing to contemplate when trying to squeeze money out of party whales at the endless number of fundraisers he must atend to raise the money he says he needs to win.

Surprisingly both candidates are almost equal in cash on hand at the end of June; McCain with nearly $100 million in cash while Obama has $92 million.

At the moment, that simply isn't enough of an advantage to justify forgoing federal funds.