Obama edges Romney in August fundraising
By David Jackson, USA TODAYSep 10, 2012
"The key to fighting back against the special interests writing limitless checks to support Mitt Romney is growing our donor base, and we did that substantially in the month of August," said Jim Messina, Obama's campaign spokesman.
The $114 million in August is a big spike for Obama, who had raised only $75 million in July.
"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country's problems," said a joint statement from Romney's national finance chairman Spencer Zwick and Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus. "That is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country."
Republicans still hold a money advantage among Super PACs and other outside groups. The Romney campaign noted it has $168.5 million cash on hand; the Obama campaign did not provide such a figure.
The new fundraising totals come right after the Republican and Democratic conventions, and at a time when Obama is taking a lead over Romney in daily tracking polls.
Here is Messina's full statement:
"The key to fighting back against the special interests writing limitless checks to support Mitt Romney is growing our donor base, and we did substantially in the month of August.
Fueled by contributions from more than 1.1 million Americans donating an average of $58 -- more than 317,000 who had never contributed to the campaign before -- we raised a total of more than $114 million. That is a critical downpayment on the organization we are building across the country -- the largest grassroots campaign in history."
Here is the Romney-Republican statement:"Americans are not better off than they were four years ago and they are looking for a change of leadership. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country's problems -- that is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country.
We will continue the hard work of raising the resources so that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan can win in November, put in place their Plan for a Stronger Middle Class, and finally get the country back on the right track."
From the Associated Press:
Obama's campaign said more than 1.1 million people donated to the campaign in August, bringing its total number of donors to more than 3 million. The average donation was $58 and 98 percent of those who donated gave $250 or less. ...
Romney's campaign did not release its total number of donors in August, but said about 94 percent of its donations came from people who gave $250 or less. ...
Obama reversed a three-month trend at the time he needs it most, having spent heavily over the summer on advertising in an attempt to hold Romney at bay. Both candidates are claiming momentum coming out of their national conventions over the past two weeks.
Despite Obama's advantage in August, it's the third straight month Romney has raised more than $100 million, and the figure represents his best one-month fundraising total. And Romney has socked away more cash for the general election campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment