Barack Obama's reelection campaign has snapped a three-month losing streak in the dash for campaign cash, outraising Mitt Romney's campaign $114 million to $111 million in August. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a statement Monday that 1.1 million donors had given an average of $58, with more than 317,000 donors giving for the first time.
Here's the big takeaway from August's fundraising numbers: The president, despite his own warnings, will almost assuredly raise more money than Romney this presidential election. Obama and the Democrats have now raised $689 million this election cycle. Romney and the GOP have banked $613 million. Obama, who like Romney rejected public funds for the 2012 election, is on track to match or beat his record-setting haul of nearly $750 million in the last election, but will likely fall short of the $1 billion once suggested by anonymous Democrats.
Sunlight Foundation editorial director Bill Allison wrote in July that Romney and the Republicans needed to outraise Obama and the Democrats by a margin of $158 million in July, August, September, and October to win the presidential fundraising fight. In July, Romney bested Obama by $26 million. But as we've just learned, Team Romney trailed Team Obama by $3 million in August, and faces long odds in outraising the president in September and October as more Americans tune in and participate in the presidential race.
As it now stands, Romney needs to raise $135 million* more than Obama over the next two months to come out on top. If the 2008 election is any indication, Romney will need a miracle to make that happen. "It just seems impossible that Romney could catch Obama," says Allison, who tracks presidential fundraising.
