Obama Pulls in $70M, Trounces GOP

President Obama raised a combined $70 million for his own campaign and the Democratic Party this summer, easily exceeding his $55 million goal and walloping his Republican rivals, his campaign announced today. The number does, however, represent something of a slowdown for Obama, who raised $16 million more than that between April and June, the AP observes.

But while total dollars were down, the number of Obama donors—more than 600,000 people—increased, with 98% of those donors giving $250 or less, with the average donation at $56. Campaign manager Jim Messina touted that “grassroots” fundraising as “a huge accomplishment this early in the campaign” and an answer to “anyone who wants to know whether the president’s supporters have his back." Among Obama’s GOP challengers, Mitt Romney is top of the heap, raising $18 million in his first three months of campaigning. (More Barack Obama stories.)