Campaign Fund-raising, Campaign Funds | featured news

Republican Mitt Romney and allied party committees entered the election homestretch with a $45 million cash advantage over President Obama and the Democratic Party, new campaign reports show.

The 2012 presidential campaign passed the $2 billion mark in fundraising Thursday, fueled by an outpouring of cash from both ordinary citizens and the wealthiest Americans hoping to influence the selection of the country's next leader.

'Super PACs' and others are cementing their status as permanent fixtures in the political firmament, with resources that rival those of the official parties.

President Obama's campaign picked up $82.4 million in donations in September. Celebrity donors included director Joss Whedon and songwriting legend Burt Bacharach.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign says it raised $170.4 million in September. The figure brings Romney's fundraising effort slightly behind President Barack Obama's $181 million haul for the month. It leaves Romney, the Republican Party and related groups with $191 million in the bank to spend during the final full month of the campaign.

However, Romney's strong showing in Denver did little to convince more voters he understands them or is a "good person," according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey released on Saturday... On the broad question of who they will vote for in November, Obama kept his 2 percentage point lead among likely voters - 47 percent to 45 percent - in the online survey.

President Barack Obama's campaign and its Democratic allies raised a record $181 million in September for the president's re-election effort, adding to a fundraising haul that could prove crucial in the final stretch of the White House race.

Have conservative groups bungled their chance to help defeat Barack Obama? Fueled with tens of millions of dollars in unlimited contributions, a network of GOP super PACs and nonprofit groups began the year with heady talk of bringing down President Obama with a ceaseless barrage of attack ads.

The ads have hit hard: In one, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown is slammed as an out-of-touch politician who saddled his state's manufacturers with higher taxes by voting for President Obama's health care law. In another, he is savaged for his "failed record on energy."

Billionaire financier George Soros has given $1 million to the primary super PAC helping President Obama. The funding is a boost to Priorities USA Action in the final weeks of the campaign.