(Photo of Obama: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)President Obama raised a whopping $86 million for his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee between April and June, according to an online video sent to supporters early this morning.
The president's campaign raised more than $47 million--surpassing the combined $35 million his 2012 GOP rivals have publicly announced raising so far. (Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum still haven't disclosed their fundraising totals.) Meanwhile, Obama raised more than $38 million for the DNC via a joint fundraising committee set up between the party and his re-election committee.
"Congratulations on this monumental achievement," Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager, says in the video.
While Obama's fundraising totals far outdistanced his GOP rivals, the president appears to be raising cash at a slower pace for his individual campaign than he did during the 2008 election. Four years ago at this point, Obama had raised a record-breaking $59 million for his presidential campaign--about $12 million more than he's raised so far this year.
Obama's campaign had previously announced it planned to raise $60 million in the month of June alone as it aims to raise at least $750 million for the president's re-election effort.
But Messina sought to cast Obama's second quarter total as a triumph in terms of grassroots support. In the video, he disclosed that 552,462 people have contributed to the Obama campaign--which he touted as "the most grassroots support at this point in the process than any campaign political history."
In a conference call with reporters, Messina said roughly 260,000 of those individuals were "new donors," who had not given to Obama's 2008 campaign. He said 98 percent of all donations were $250 or less, while the average contribution was $69. But full details on Obama's fundraising, including how much cash the campaign has in the bank and who its donors are, won't be available until Friday, when second quarter finance reports are due at the Federal Election Commission.
Messina also declined to specify how much of the $47 million the Obama campaign has raised so far is made up of contributions dedicated to the primary versus the general election. Campaigns are allowed to solicit contributions for both, but aren't allowed to spend general election cash until next year. That breakdown will be revealed in Friday's FEC report.
In spite of Obama's fundraising advantage, Messina still cast the president as an underdog. In the video, he pointed to outside GOP groups that are planning to spend big cash to undermine his re-election bid—even though several Democratic groups, including one formed by two former Obama aides, have popped up to counter that spending.
"We have reason to be proud of what we've built so far, but it's going to get tougher from here," he says in the video. "GOP outside spending for 2012 could be as much as $500 million."
You can watch Messina's full video here, courtesy of the Obama campaign: