curious
Obama reported almost $98 million cash-on-hand, compared to less than $23 million in the kitty at Romney for President. But according to NPR, that's not the whole story. June was the second consecutive month in which Romney brought in more money than Obama, according to finance reports filed this past Friday.
The nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics compared 2012 with the contest four years ago, between Obama and Senator John McCain. According to Center spokesman Bob Biersack, "the Obama campaign's about $42 .5 million behind where they were at the same time in 2008. Romney's about $12.5 million ahead of where McCain was through June of 2008." Federal Elections Commission (FEC) records show that Romney, working through his joint fundraising committee, has raised huge amounts of cash since early April, when he locked up the Republican nomination. "There's been a lot of growth in the Romney campaign as the nomination got settled," Biersack says, "and it's coming in lots of different directions, both from big donors to the joint committees, but also in small contributions, too."
On the most visible battlefront, television ads, the Obama campaign outspent Romney last month $38 million to $10 million. In one ad, the Obama campaign gave Iowa voters its interpretation of Romney's career as a venture capitalist: "Does Iowa really want an outsourcer-in-chief in the White House?" Romney's campaign had done little on TV to answer the charges. In spite of the massive ad campaign attacking Romney, very little change in the polls occurred. A Rasmussen Poll taken yesterday shows Obama and Romney tied at 46%.
But Romney will get help from groups such as the Crossroads organization, co-founded by GOP consultant Karl Rove. Crossroads spent $7.3 million last month on ads against Obama. Crossroads donors' names are kept secret. Another division of Crossroads launched a $9 million wave of ads attacking the president for attacking Romney. Another superPAC supporting Romney had its best fundraising month ever. Restore Our Future, which is run by several former Romney aides, reported raising nearly $21 million. Ten million of it came from casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, who had bankrolled Rick Santorum in the primaries. Also giving $1 million or more were Texas homebuilder Bob Perry and Florida energy billionaire Bill Koch. Restore Our Future has nearly $22 million in the bank, ready for the general election campaign.
Romney's recent fundraising advantage prompted Obama's campaign advisers to warn supporters this month that the president could lose the election if the financial disparity continued.
Obama tried to answer the super PACs supporting Romney by spending $38.2 million on television advertising. Romney spent less than a third of that - $10.4 million - on TV time. Romney's campaign nearly doubled its spending in June compared with the previous month. Much of Romney's funds came from larger donations in a handful of battleground states. Those included Florida, where the Romney Victory Fund pulled in about $4.4 million in individual contributions.
President Barack Obama's re-election campaign spent more than it collected in June. The Obama campaign reported more than $46 million in June and total spending of $58 million. The Democratic Party reported $37.5 million in the bank. Romney, during the same period, reported receipts of $33 million and spending of $27.5 million for June. The challenger's cash on hand was almost a mirror image of Obama's and the DNC's, as Romney reported $22.5 million in the bank and the Republican National Committee said it had $89.4 million. Romney retains a vast advantage overall when the super PACs working in his favor are factored in.
For Obama's part, a handful of super PACs helping his re-election pulled in a combined $25 million in June. Those contributions included a $1 million contribution to Priorities USA Action from actor Morgan Freeman, who joined a list of Hollywood figures like Steven Spielberg trying to help Obama secure a second term.
Beyond the dollar amounts, the president's campaign released an updated list of big-dollar fundraisers, known as "bundlers," who have collected at least $50,000 toward his re-election. Obama named 638 bundlers, adding 106 more to his total earlier this year. Romney does not list his bundlers, even though he has received repeated calls during the campaign to identify them.
Both candidates enjoyed a wide swath of contributions from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Romney's financial reports listed higher dollar amounts in key battleground states like Florida, Michigan and New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Obama tends to receive more contributions dollar-wise from donors who give less than $200. Such small amounts do not have to be reported to the Federal Election Commission.
It will be interesting to see if this trend in fundraising continues, and whether or not it translates to any change in the polls. Stay tuned.