Barack Obama campaign raises over $ 220 mn in 2011

WASHINGTON: The US Democracts have raised more than USD 220 million in 2011 for President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, but the managers are worried over the collections of the last quarter which are less than the figure raised by the George Bush campaign in 2004.

The campaign raised USD 68 million in the last quarter of the year, the Obama campaign manager said today.

While the money raised jointly by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee is much more than that raised by Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, the latest figures for the money collected in the last quarter is less than what was garnered by his predecessor George W Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign.

"Perceived complacency by some supporters has sent a jolt of concern through the president's campaign brain trust in Chicago, which generally has viewed its cash situation as unassailable," the Politico reported.

"Of the October-to-December cash, USD 42 million went to Obama's coffers, with USD 24 million headed to the DNC -- a bit less than the USD 70.4 million raised by the Bush-Cheney-RNC campaigns in late 2003," Politico said.

This was reflected in the video message sent by Obama campaign manager to its supporters.

"Too many Obama supporters believe that this campaign doesn't need their donations, or doesn't need them in order to compete and win, which is wrong," said campaign manager Jim Messina.

"The biggest difference between 2008 and 2012 from a fundraising perspective is that some supporters have begun to think that somehow other people are going to take care of things and it will be fine," Messina said.

"But there's no secret strategy that we can count on. There is no cavalry. There's only you. This is not a billion-dollar campaign and it's not going to be.

"We're not taking a dime from Washington lobbyists or special-interest PACs. All of the money that funds this campaign will come from grassroots supporters like you," Messina said.