Obama 2012 fundraising smashes record with $86 million haul
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President Barack Obama has shattered first quarter fundraising records for a White House incumbent by raising $86 million for the first quarter – dwarfing the 2012 GOP field’s total take and breezing past his own target of $60 million.
The shock-and-awe showing was announced by Obama 2012 Campaign Manager Jim Messina, wearing his signature blue dress shirt sans tie, in a web video blasted to supporters in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, two days before the 15,000-page combined Obama for America and Democratic National Committee report is due to go up on a government web site.
Earlier this month, Democratic fundraising sources close to the campaign told POLITICO that Obama would easily achieve his goal of besting former President George W. Bush’s combined take of $50.1 million at the same point in the 2004 election cycle.
The total amount Obama raised in the first three months of 2011 also amounted to more than twice the $35 million raised collectively by the announced field of Republican presidential candidates.
“It’s a monumental achievement,” Messina said.
Messina touted the campaign’s commitment to grassroots organizing, and the fact that the average donation was $69 – lower even than the 2008 average contribution. Obama’s campaign organization had come under fire from some on the left who accused them of focusing too heavily on Democratic money players.
The former deputy White House Chief of Staff, who spent much of the spring barnstorming around the country to stoke enthusiasm among big-dollar donors, didn’t immediately provide details on how much cash was raised from contributions above $250. Those will be itemized on the Obama Victory Fund report due to be posted by the Federal Election Commission on Friday.
So far, 552,462 people have contributed to the joint committee, a figure Messina described as “more grassroots support at this point in the process than any campaign in political history.”
Officials with Obama’s Chicago-based campaign have downplayed reports that they plan to raise $1 billion by Nov. 2012, but they have said they hope to match or exceed the approximately $750 million he raised in 2008 – a small-donor fueled, internet-based effort that rewrote the presidential campaign playbook.
Despite the massive haul, Messina still sought to cast the president as a financial underdog, emphasizing Obama’s refusal to take PAC or lobbyist cash – and hitting the GOP on its aggressive third-party fundraising effort in the wake of the Citizens United case.
“It’s going to get tougher from here… GOP outside spending for 2012 will be as much as $500 million… This is a whole new ballgame like we’ve never faced before,” he added.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/07 ... z1RzoG15fX
The shock-and-awe showing was announced by Obama 2012 Campaign Manager Jim Messina, wearing his signature blue dress shirt sans tie, in a web video blasted to supporters in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, two days before the 15,000-page combined Obama for America and Democratic National Committee report is due to go up on a government web site.
Earlier this month, Democratic fundraising sources close to the campaign told POLITICO that Obama would easily achieve his goal of besting former President George W. Bush’s combined take of $50.1 million at the same point in the 2004 election cycle.
The total amount Obama raised in the first three months of 2011 also amounted to more than twice the $35 million raised collectively by the announced field of Republican presidential candidates.
“It’s a monumental achievement,” Messina said.
Messina touted the campaign’s commitment to grassroots organizing, and the fact that the average donation was $69 – lower even than the 2008 average contribution. Obama’s campaign organization had come under fire from some on the left who accused them of focusing too heavily on Democratic money players.
The former deputy White House Chief of Staff, who spent much of the spring barnstorming around the country to stoke enthusiasm among big-dollar donors, didn’t immediately provide details on how much cash was raised from contributions above $250. Those will be itemized on the Obama Victory Fund report due to be posted by the Federal Election Commission on Friday.
So far, 552,462 people have contributed to the joint committee, a figure Messina described as “more grassroots support at this point in the process than any campaign in political history.”
Officials with Obama’s Chicago-based campaign have downplayed reports that they plan to raise $1 billion by Nov. 2012, but they have said they hope to match or exceed the approximately $750 million he raised in 2008 – a small-donor fueled, internet-based effort that rewrote the presidential campaign playbook.
Despite the massive haul, Messina still sought to cast the president as a financial underdog, emphasizing Obama’s refusal to take PAC or lobbyist cash – and hitting the GOP on its aggressive third-party fundraising effort in the wake of the Citizens United case.
“It’s going to get tougher from here… GOP outside spending for 2012 will be as much as $500 million… This is a whole new ballgame like we’ve never faced before,” he added.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/07 ... z1RzoG15fX
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First, the claim from the campaign. In a video sent to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina released the numbers, and explained the $86 million figure:
That’s actually not a bad tutorial. Messina, you’ll notice, does at least explain how the large number breaks down. That’s important, because how the $86 million is spread around is key.
First and foremost, Obama did not raise raise $86 million for his campaign. Instead he raised just over $47 million for his campaign and just over $38 million for the Democratic National Committee. That’s important because some outlets such as Politico are reporting the $86 million number as if it wasn’t a sum total of two different campaigns.
“The total amount Obama raised in the first three months of 2011 also amounted to more than twice the $35 million raised collectively by the announced field of Republican presidential candidates,” Politco says.
But if you use the $47 million figure, the juxtaposition Politico is trying to convey isn’t as shocking.
To be fair, Obama has still outraised his closest GOP contender, Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor leads the GOP field in fundraising, pulling in more than $18 million during the past three months. But $86 million compared to $18 million is much different than $47 million compared to $18 million.
Jim Geraghty over at NRO puts it this way:
Today the number is $86 million, an impressive sum by any measure. But it’s worth remembering, as Nathan Wurtzel notes, Obama’s total includes fundraising he did for the Democratic National Committee, as opposed to GOP candidates’ totals, which are amounts raised solely for their campaign.
To offer a more accurate comparison, you would have to toss in the totals for the RNC, which raised $6 million in April and $6 million in May. The RNC’s June total is not yet known.
Is Obama ahead in fundraising? Yes, and probably by quite a bit. But the comparison is not Obama and the DNC’s $86 million against Romney’s $18.3 million. The comparison is Obama and the DNC’s $86 million against Romney [or your preferred candidate] + $12 million for the RNC in April and May + the RNC’s June total.
Additionally, Geraghty points out that Obama’s current fundraising is actually lagging behind his 2008 campaign pace:
But again, to match his $750 million from the 2008 cycle, Obama would need to average $107 million for seven quarters. Obviously, hit is possible that Obama can make up ground in the next few quarters. But to hit that hyped $1 billion number, Obama would need to raise a bit more than $142 million per quarter. As impressive as the $86 million figure is, it’s below those markers.
So why the confusing figures? National Journal explains:
The Democratic National Committee will report having raised an additional $38 million in the last three months. The two committees may raise money jointly through the Obama Victory Fund, an entity that allows donors to write checks for up to $35,800. That money is divided, with the first $5,000 of any contribution going to Obama’s campaign and the rest going to the DNC (The DNC must report their fundraising totals every month, meaning the committee will report raising about $14 million in June when they file their own reports).
That’s a much more accurate picture. Just don’t ask Politico to paint it for you.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012-fu ... ollar-man/
— Socrates
Hey, I wonder why the media never brings up the issue of capping campaign donations? :think:
He's trying to take more of it.
but it can buy you a president.
Godfather.