One unique Obama advantage

From the WaPo, a story about a unique advantage that Obama has: because he has been so spectacularly successful at raising money online, he hasn't had to do that much of it in person. Which frees him up to do things like actual campaigning. Some numbers:

In March: Obama raised $40 million to Clinton's $20 million.

Overall: Obama has raised $240 million to Clinton's $175 million.

Clinton has attended more than a dozen fundraisers since Jan. 1, and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, has appeared at more than 40, while Obama and his wife have attended fewer than 10 during that time.

And this is particularly mind-boggling:

Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), an Obama supporter, said he was shocked when he learned Obama attended just one fundraiser in February. Casey, by contrast, attended 450 fundraisers during his 2006 Senate campaign.

Before this election, if you had told any campaign veteran that a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, in the middle of a very heated primary election, had attended only one fundraiser in an entire month, they would have called you insane. That would have just been inconceivable.

So what is Obama doing with the money?

He is vastly outspending Clinton in Pennsylvania, with $3 million in television and radio ads, including a Spanish-language TV ad airing in the Philadelphia area, compared with an estimated $500,000 that Clinton is spending in the state

And he's doing more than just spending money on ads:

In North Carolina, which will vote on May 6, the Obama campaign has opened 16 offices, including ones in smaller locales such as Hickory, Elizabeth City and Boone.

In Indiana, which will also hold its primary on May 6, Obama has spent $1 million on television ads that have been airing for more than a week, and the campaign opened its 17th office there yesterday. Clinton has 12 offices in the state.

All of this actually makes me optimistic for the general election, because it means that Obama is essentially laying groundwork for November. All of that spending and all of those offices mean more Democrats registered, more volunteers trained, more phone calls made. Obama has 17 offices in Indiana. Again, who would have thot that Obama would have more than one office in Indiana at this point, let alone 17?