By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, APPresident Obama speaks at a fundraiser hosted by singer Ricky Martin and the LGBT Leadership Council in New York on Monday.
By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, APPresident Obama speaks at a fundraiser hosted by singer Ricky Martin and the LGBT Leadership Council in New York on Monday.
Obama and his Democratic fund-raising arms would have to take in nearly $60 million a month between now and Election Day just to match the $745 million he raised as a candidate in 2008. The $53 million he raised in March for himself and the party was his best fund-raising month of the year."One of the most important things we can do is get arms around the fact that this election is going to be close, given the historic challenges the nation faced when the president first came into office," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video to supporters Wednesday. He said more than $57 million in negative ads targeting Obama have already aired and more are on the way.The campaign announcement came as Crossroads GPS, a non-profit group linked to Republican strategist Karl Rove, announced it would spend $25 million on advertising slamming Obama on the economy and federal deficit. Crossroads GPS and its super PAC, American Crossroads, have pledged to spend $300 million to oppose Obama and congressional Democrats.Messina said 169,500 donors gave to Obama for the first time in April, putting the campaign within reach of nearly 2 million contributors. He said the money paid for building the campaign infrastructure and boosting get-out-the-vote efforts in key battleground states, including opening 42 new field offices in April and registering 15,000 new voters in North Carolina. In 2008, Obama won the state by a mere 14,000 votes.In a conference call Wednesday, deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said the campaign feels "pretty good" about its fund-raising and the ground operation that "will decide the election."
Obama's April figures don't include a new round of presidential fundraisers in recent weeks that have taken the president to New York City and Los Angeles. Obama raised an estimated $15 million at a single event last week at actor George Clooney's home.Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney had collected just $12.6 million in March but has yet to release his April fund-raising totals. In recent weeks, Romney has begun collecting campaign money with the Republican National Committee and is attending a round of fundraisers in Florida this week. His supporters say Romney and the RNC aim to collect a combined $800 million.On Wednesday, RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski sent out an email slamming Obama as "fundraiser in chief." Contributing: Aamer Madhani
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