Democrats raise $1.7 million

from the story:

Seven of the nine Democratic presidential candidates attended the fund-raiser at a Washington hotel, with 750 people who paid at least $1,000 apiece; comedian and author Al Franken was the host. Another 750 young Democrats met at a nearby restaurant later in the evening at a cost of $50 apiece.

Candidate Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, poked fun at his own tendency to shoot from the hip and apologize to his rivals later.

"I am delighted to have all the candidates in one room so I can issue a blanket apology should one be needed later in the campaign,'' Dean said, as the crowd burst into laughter.
...
Democrats are trying to remain competitive under the new rules of the campaign finance law that bans the unlimited soft money the party used to receive from corporations, unions and wealthy donors, said Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

"It's a challenge, there's no question,'' said McAuliffe, a veteran fund-raiser who has worked at updating DNC donor files and improving direct-mail fund raising. "We're going to have the biggest six-month direct mail effort in the party's history.''

McAuliffe said the party is "in the best financial shape we've ever been in,'' with $6 million.

Republicans already have a huge early advantage, with the Republican National Committee outraising the DNC by more than 3-to-1 in the first three months of the year. Bush's re-election campaign is halfway toward raising $20 million in a two-week push intended to intimidate Democrats; the goal is $200 million or more. In a single night Monday in New York, Bush raised $4 million.

Funding the DNC is a critical issue that has largely been overlooked. Note that the candidates, including Dean, all do recognize that the DNC fundraising is critical to defeating Bush, regardless of who is nominated.