Campaign Fund-raising | featured news

All the political attention might be focused on Republicans or even Tropical Storm Isaac, but that's not stopping President Obama from asking for more campaign money. In a new fundraising e-mail today geared to the swing state of Iowa, Obama says he's losing "the air war" and needs $5 or more from donors to pay for more campaign commercials.

Mitt Romney's success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data-mining project that sifts through Americans' personal information - including their purchasing history and church attendance - to identify new and likely, wealthy donors, The Associated Press has learned....

President Obama's campaign is claiming another first: Donations by text message. The campaign said today that Obama supporters with smartphones can contribute up to $50 by texting "GIVE" to the number 62262.

With a nod to his basketball star host, Michael Jordan, President Barack Obama used a sports analogy at a fundraiser in New York on Wednesday to describe the election campaign and his opponents, who he said played "dirty."

Candidates may raise the unprecedented sums of political cash being funneled through Super PACs this year, and media strategists may decide how to spend them – but the people who actually wind up pocketing much of the money are America's television broadcasters. Since the Supreme Court voided limits on political donations in Citizens United, more money than ever is being devoted to negative TV ads. Industry analysts predict that upwards of $3 billion will be spent on political advertising this year – a surge of more than $500 million over 2008.

Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee say they netted more than $101 million last month... The campaign says Romney, the RNC and state GOP parties have nearly $186 million in cash on hand.

A two-day fundraising swing through California by Mitt Romney brought in $10 million, a sizable addition to the presumptive GOP nominee’s war chest as he prepares for the general election battle with President Obama.

Mitt Romney’s campaign has improved its fund-raising from small donors, helping to build an advantage in money available after the two parties hold their nominating conventions.

Morgan Freeman donated $1 million last month to Priorities USA Action, the main super PAC supporting President Obama.

Senate Republicans blocked Democratic-backed legislation requiring organizations pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into campaign ads to disclose their top donors and the amounts they spend.