I am sure Team Hillary loves the Drudge headline: AMERICA LOVES HILLARY; TOP FUNDRAISER FOR ROUND ONE: $36 MILLION

To clarify, $10 million of that is left over from from her oh-so-competitive Senate campaign of 2006, so since the campaign kickoff, Hillary has raised $26 million – an impressive total by any standard. I wonder, however, how many people will notice this calculation by the New York Sun’s Jill Gardiner:

A source close to Mr. Obama indicated that he has raised about $21 million for the primary. If, as some have estimated, 80% of the money Mrs. Clinton raised can be used for the primary, with the rest required by limits on donors to be reserved for the general election, the two senators may have taken in about the same amount for the primary in this quarter.

Edwards remains in that not quite first tier, not quite second tier category, raising a quite respectable $14 million. In an ordinary cycle, that would be fantastic.

We’re still waiting for some dogs to bark, like how quickly these campaigns are spending their money. The big operations — and Hillary’s is a huge one — tend to go through their money faster than the longshots.

UPDATE: Reaction from Hotline:

Like many other metrics, the [Clinton] number can’t be isolated from its context. Some Clinton supporters will c*** bricks when they learn that Sen. Barack Obama raised more than $21 million dollars — maybe more. Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, declined to confirm that fact, but other Dem fundraisers who talk regularly with Obama’s fundraisers say that Obama’s sum will come close to Clinton’s sum — at least for the money raised into primary accounts.
Others will worry that $26M is as good as it gets for Clinton, especially since high dollar fundraising tends to drop off after the first quarter. For the rest of the year, Clinton will rely more and more on aggressive and costly direct mail, low dollar events, and internet appeals.
The bottom line for Ex-Sen. John Edwards: his $14M haul this quarter, of which about $13M can be used for the primaries, indicates that he’s tapped a vein of donors who believe in his message-based candidacy.
The [Richardson] verdict: $6 million is a show of strength for a sitting governor not considered to be in the top tier.

Reaction from Rudy-affiliated web guru Patrick Ruffini:

#1: Hillary Clinton – $26 million – Less than expected
I was under the impression that this was a Big Dog & Terry production. If so, then I’m not entirely impressed…
#2: Barack Obama – $22 million – As expected
This is a huge number for Obama, but mostly it looks good because of Clinton’s number. The fact is that you can’t steal away high-profile FOB’s like Geffen and Spielberg, have $2M+ New York and L.A. events and expect to benefit from low expectations…
#3: John Edwards – $14 million – More than expected
Days before the Elizabeth Edwards announcement, I had all but written Edwards off based in part on his online fundraising numbers… Considering the breathless Hillary/Barack coverage over the last two months, Edwards has officially regained the mantle of sleeper.

Team Hillary might be banging their heads against the wall, asking what they need to do to get some impressive press coverage; they smash the all-time fundraising record and yet they’re still poked for “not meeting expectations.” On the other hand, when $10 million comes from the Senate run, the $26 million since January looks milder, and we’re looking at what has to be the biggest and most impressive fundraising machine in either party in American history. And the Democratic field seems, so far, much more unified around their big three than on the GOP side.

By the way, on Saturday, I saw my first Obama 2008 bumper sticker… in South Carolina.

UPDATE: If the Hotline’s report is accurate, Mitt Romney has $23 million, and if I’m not mistaken, none of that is for the general, it’s entirely for the primary.

Now Hillary’s $26 million since January looks like nothing special, if some not-well-known one-term governor who’s getting knocked around as a flip-flopper can nearly equal her take. In fact, if everything we’ve been told is correct, Romney almost certainly raised more primary-only funds than Hillary Clinton.

Rudy’s at $15 million, McCain to come later.