Obama Fund-Raising

(The picture above is from the excellent site Addicting Info.)

The Washington Post had a headline today that I guess is supposed to worry the people supporting President Obama's re-election. It said the the president is lagging behind in big donor contributions. It noted that at this point in 2008, Obama had received 23,000 donations of $2,000 or more while this year he's only received 11,000 donations of $2,000 or more. The obvious inference was that President Obama might not have adequate campaign funds to compete with the Republican candidate in the general election.

And it's true that President Obama doesn't have the same amount of big donors as he did in 2008. The corporations and Wall Street bankers could see which way the wind was blowing that year, and they tried to buy some good will by throwing some money to Obama. They are not doing that this year. This year they are doing their best to try and get one of their Republican buddies (preferably Romney) elected.

But that doesn't mean President Obama will not have enough money to compete. That headline overlooks a couple of things. First, in 2008 Obama had to spend much of the money he'd raised by this point because he was in a tough primary fight with Hillary Clinton. He doesn't have to do that this year. All of the money he has raised can be put into the general election against whoever the Republicans nominate.

Second, President Obama is not doing too badly in his fund-raising efforts. It's just that the money is coming in from ordinary Americans who can only afford smaller donations. In January, President Obama raised about $29.1 million -- more than any of the Republican candidates raised (and more than all of them put together raised). The president did much better in February -- raising over $45 million dollars. And 98% of those donations were $250 or less (with the average donation being about $59).

How did the Republicans do in February? Romney raised about $11.5 million and Santorum raised about $9 million -- and they are spending it like water in a nasty primary campaign. I don't mean to suggest the Republicans won't be able to compete financially in the general election. While the GOP candidate probably can't hope to match the president in direct contributions to his campaign, you can bet the Wall Street and corporate money will flow freely into his super-PAC.

It will be Obama's campaign money against the Republican's super-PAC money. Frankly, I like the fact that most of Obama's money is coming from small donors. Maybe that means he will not be as beholding to Wall Street as the Republican candidate (who will virtually be owned by the rich).

Will Obama have the money to compete? Absolutely. Ordinary Americans will see to that.