Obama campaign aims to raise $55 million by end of the month

While much of the political focus has been on the Republican primary race in recent days, President Obama is continuing to assemble a hefty war chest ahead of next year's general election.

Per the Associated Press' Ken Thomas, top Obama aides are aiming to raise $55 million by the end of the year's third fundraising quarter, which ends on Sept. 30. That total represents cash raised by the Obama campaign as well as a joint fund-raising committee set up between the campaign and the Democratic National Committee that is raising cash to boost the president's election.

The fundraising goal is significantly less than the $86 million Obama raised between April and June, the last fundraising quarter. But Obama aides have been cautioning about a slowdown in cash receipts for months—in spite of Obama's busy campaign schedule this summer.

In July, Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, said he expected fundraising to be slow throughout the summer, in part because donors aren't as engaged in politics. Yet Obama has attended dozens of high-dollar fundraisers over the last two months, including donor events scheduled around his birthday. Last month, he headlined a series of fundraising dinners in New York that attracted celebrities including actress Gwyneth Paltrow and Hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein. The price of admission: $38,500 per person, with the proceeds benefitting the Obama campaign and the DNC.

Still, Messina said in a recent briefing of top Obama supporters the campaign's receipts had been hurt by the fact president had to cancel a number of money events during last month's debt negotiations with Congress.

It's unclear if Obama aides are generally concerned about cash—or if this is a good old fashioned attempt at lowering expectations ahead of the Sept. 30 fundraising deadline. A spokesman for the Obama campaign did not respond to a request for comment from The Ticket.

Obama already has a significant head start on his GOP rivals in terms of the cash race. The $47 million Obama raised for his campaign alone between April and June was roughly equal the collective total posted by all of his GOP rivals.

But the financial landscape could dramatically change with the addition of Rick Perry, a prolific fundraiser who joined the race last month. In addition, Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney are also expected to post better campaign finance numbers than they did in June.

All told, Obama is aiming to raise at least $750 million to spend on his 2012 campaign—a sum roughly equal to what he raised and spent on his 2008 effort. But that total is likely to be more, as Obama aides press donors to ante up to combat spending from conservative super PACs like American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS—which plan to spend at least $240 million on the 2012 campaign, money mostly aimed at unseating Obama.