Campaigns can be so tricky sometimes. Barack Obama had hoped to dominate the news cycle today with a big foreign policy speech and a trip to Iowa, but all it took was a little link forwarded to reporters by the Clinton campaign to upstage things. If you haven’t heard, Clinton, according to a very short post on her campaign website, raised $27 million over the last three months--making it the first quarter she’s out-raised Obama. No question it’s a significant accomplishment. July to September is a traditionally slow fund-raising period for candidates, which makes her numbers all the better. And yeah, Clinton has finally raised more money than the guy who’s had all the buzz. (Anyone remember that Oprah fundraiser a few weeks back?)

But as with most fund-raising numbers, there is the fine print. For one thing, the only cash that really counts right now is contributions dedicated for the primary. And in that department, Clinton raised $22 million vs. Obama’s $19 million over the last three months. Sad to say, but in a campaign year like this, when every financial record has been thrown out the window, a $3 million difference in a single quarter isn’t all that.  The big picture, based on the summary numbers (since we have to wait until they file the nitty-gritty to the FEC later this month): it looks as though Obama still leads when it comes to fund-raising strictly for the primary. According to his campaign, the Illinois senator has raised roughly $75 million to spend on the primary campaign. Clinton, meanwhile, has raised about $62 million for the primary alone. Of course, that’s not the only thing the two Democratic frontrunners are quibbling about. Last week, the Obama campaign talked up the fact that it had at least 93,000 new contributors during the third quarter. Today, the Clinton camp boasted of 100,000 new donors. Wow and wow-except that the Obama campaign admitted earlier this summer that its “donors” include people who buy campaign t-shirts and bumper stickers, a tally not often included by other campaigns, since many farm out their merchandising to outside groups.

As crucial as these numbers are, we're still waiting for the most important figures when it comes to Clinton v. Obama.  The big question facing the Dems: How much did each campaign spend over the summer? Did Clinton continue to play it frugal? And how much money does each side have in the bank to spend on the primaries? We’ll have to wait for more fine print.