For the second month in a row, Mitt Romney and the RNC have topped the hundred million dollar mark in fundraising, coming in at $101.3 million according to The Hill and MittRomney.com.
Obama, for the third month in a row, brought in far less than Romney for July, with CNN reporting that Obama trailed Romney in fundraising and brought in $75 million.
Via Team Romney's press release:
Today, Romney for President, Romney Victory, and the Republican National Committee announced fundraising totals of over $101.3 million in July. The campaign, RNC and state party participants have approximately $185.9 million cash on hand.
Announcing the numbers, Romney Victory National Finance Chairman Spencer Zwick and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said, “Once again we see that for many people, this is more than a campaign, it is a cause.” Zwick went on to say, “We are honored to have the support of a broad spectrum of donors—Independents, Democrats and Republicans—whose support of Governor Romney shows that he has the needed plan to jumpstart our economy and get the country on the right track again. We are well on track to raise the money to be successful in November. If you haven't given, show your support by joining the group of donors who have shown their commitment to Governor Romney and the Romney Victory effort.”
“Americans are clearly looking for a change in the White House,” said Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. “While President Obama claims that his economic plan ‘worked,’ the American people know that his policies haven’t worked and he has failed to fix our economy. Mitt Romney has a plan that will create jobs, grow the economy, and build a stronger middle class – that is why he is seeing such strong support.”
FAST FACTS About Romney For President, Romney Victory, and RNC Fundraising:
- Over $101.3 Million Raised In July
- 94.13% Of All Donations Received In July Were $250 Or Less
- $25.7 Million Raised By Donations Under $250 In July
- 600,627 Donations Received Under $250 In July
- Approximately $185.9 Million Cash On Hand
- Contributions Received From All 50 States And Washington, D.C.
While Romney is busy filling the war chest, Obama is busy shrinking his and the New York Times recently reported that Obama "has spent more campaign cash more quickly than any incumbent in recent history."
Obama went big early on, some months spending more than he brought in as an attempt to define Romney before Romney could, oblivious to every poll showing Americans want the focus to be on jobs and the economy.
Obama and the DNC's major themes have focused on Romney's wealth, Romney's taxes and taxing the "wealthy", all class warfare themes and have not resulted in the any polling losses for Romney, only appealing to those that are already supporting Obama.
Out of 12 key issues Gallup surveyed voters on, taxing the wealthy was last on the list. The class warfare theme is not resonating, yet they continue with it.
Romney on the other hand has been focused consistently on the economy, jobs and Obama's failure to promote economy growth with his policies or bring unemployment down under 8 percent.
According to another Gallup release, from interviews conducted in the same time-frame, July 19-22, 2012, the top issues, federal budget deficit, economy, creating jobs and taxes all show Americans favoring Mitt Romney as being "better able to handle" those key issues than Obama.
By blowing his cash advantage over Romney so early in the campaign, spending more than he is bringing in, Obama has left himself in the position of now watching Romney using his new cash advantage to define Obama and using Obama's own record over the last nearly four years to do so.
It appears incredibly shortsighted on the part of Team Obama to blow such a large advantage so early in the race and leave Team Romney in a position to blow by him in the last leg of the race.
It also points to the judgment call of continuing to attack Romney on issues that Americans have polled consistently saying are not as important as jobs and the economy.