According to the New York Times, President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign is significantly behind where experts expected to be at this point. Instead of relying on larger donors, which have become scarce, Obama's team is looking to small, individual contributors for funds. Ultimately, while the president's campaign coffers are still larger than those of his rival, republican Mitt Romney, his campaign team has had to focus on his grass roots support.
The New York Times reports:
With big checks no longer flowing as quickly into his campaign, Mr. Obama is leaning harder on his grass-roots supporters, whose small contributions make up well over half of the money he raised through the end of March, according to reports filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission. And Mr. Obama is asking far more of those large donors still giving, exploiting his joint fund-raising arrangement with the Democratic National Committee to collect five-figure checks from individuals who have already given the maximum $5,000 contribution to his re-election campaign.
“They clearly are feeling the pressure,” said one major Obama fund-raiser, who asked for anonymity to characterize his conversations with campaign officials. “They're behind where they expected to be. You have to factor in $500 million-plus in Republican super PAC money.”
Read more at the New York Times.