Obama 2012 Raises a Record $86 Million
President Obama’s re-election campaign has raised a record-breaking $86 million, surpassing its targeted goal of $60 million and kind of making the 2012 GOP candidates’ collective haul of $35 million look a little like chump change. The campaign reportedly aims to raise $1 billion or at a minimum match or exceed the $750 million that Obama raised in 2008, mostly from small donations made on the Internet.
“It’s a monumental achievement,” said campaign manager Jim Messina in a video released early Wednesday. “We did this from the bottom up. We didn’t accept one single dollar from Washington lobbyists or special-interest PACs.”
According to Messina, the average contribution was $69 and 98 percent of donors gave less than $250. But it all adds up to a record number for an incumbent, beating the more than $50 million raised by former President George W. Bush during the same period in the 2004 election cycle.
Republicans are not very impressed and downplayed the president’s fundraising prowess. In addition to the $35 million raised by the GOP presidential candidates, the Republican National Committee raised another $30 million.
“I don't think anyone is going to lose an election in 2012 for president for lack of funds,” RNC chairman Reince Priebus told reporters during a conference call. “I think we're going to have total saturation on both sides of the aisle. And this election is going to come down to one question, which is: Am I better off today than I was four years ago. And the answer to that question is clearly no.”
(Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images)