A new study by the Campaign Finance Institute dispels the notion that small donors (i.e., under $200 total) were a dominant factor in Barack Obama’s fundraising:

Although an unusually high percentage (49%) of Obama’s funds came in discrete contributions of $200 or less (see Table 3), only 26% of his money through August 31 (and 24% of his funds through October 15, according to the most recent FEC reports) came from donors whose total contributions aggregated to $200 or less. Obama’s 26% compares to 25% for George W. Bush in 2004, 20% for John Kerry in 2004, 21% for John McCain in 2008, 13% for Hillary Clinton in 2008, and 38% for Howard Dean in 2004.

In other words, the media-fueled image of Obama relying predominantly on small donors was actually the result of multiple contributions by people who might be described as “big donors on the installment plan.” Nonetheless, the relative lack of grassroots support for John McCain’s campaign is apparent in the CFI study, which finds that McCain got 41% of of his fundraising from those who gave less than $1,000 total, compared to 53% for Obama.

(Via LA Times and Instapundit.)