With the first batch of post-election fundraising numbers set to be released in days, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain are each trouncing their rivals in their respective 2008 Presidential fields in cash-on-hand. The Washington Times took an advance look at the numbers and found that Clinton currently has $14 million in the bank, $4 million more than Sen. Evan Bayh, her closest cash competitor according to the paper. GOP numbers are much smaller as Sen. McCain leads the field with $1.1 million in the bank, and that number is expected to grow rapidly now that McCain has formed an exploratory committee and is aggressively hiring campaign staff.

Meanwhile, here's a really interesting tidbit from the Times that might help explain why Barack Obama is so adored by fellow Dems: He's exceptionally generous towards them with his campaign money. Though Obama had less than $1 million in the bank at the end of November, he ranks fourth amongst Democratic officeholders and first among Dem Presidential hopefuls in contributions to other Dems during the 2006 election cycle.

Update: Commenter Ohiomeister brings up a good point below. The Washington Times article seems to rank Obama #1 based soley on his personal contributions, which gives a misleading indication of donor generosity during the election cycle as many candidates donated large sums through their political action committees, donated directly to the DNC, DCCC and DSCC, or directly raised money for candidates across the country. As Ohiomeister notes, Sen. John Kerry's Keeping America's Promise PAC spent $7,331,884 on Democratic campaigns and campaign activities in 2006.