Obama Campaign Announces Raising $43.6 Million in April

President Obama and the Democrats raised $43.6 million in April, adding to the president’s edge over his rival, Mitt Romney, even as money continues to pour in to outside groups ahead of the fall campaign. Campaign Cash News and analysis on campaign fund-raising. The $43.6 million is a dip from March, when Mr. Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised a combined $53 million. But it does not count several large fund-raisers — including one in Hollywood that reportedly raised $15 million — that took place in early May. Mr. Obama’s campaign is also hoping to capitalize in the months ahead on increased fund-raising in the gay community after Mr. Obama’s statement this month that he supports same-sex marriage. In a video released Wednesday morning, Jim Messina, the president’s campaign manager, focused on the need to compete with the outside groups like Crossroads GPS and Restore Our Future, a “super PAC” formed to help Mr. Romney. “Oil company executives and other special interests are dumping millions of dollars in super PAC attack ads,” Mr. Messina said. “The Koch brothers-funded super PAC spent $6 million on TV ads attacking the president. Mitt Romney’s super PAC put another $4 million on the air.” The campaign is eager to light a fire under its supporters to donate money to combat those ads. But it’s also trying to show potential donors how contributions are being used to build an effective organization on the ground. In the video, Mr. Messina described how the campaign has opened dozens of field offices in swing states like Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia in the hopes of overwhelming Mr. Romney with a superior organization. Still, the campaign knows that the ability to compete with Mr. Romney and the outside groups with television advertising will be a key to winning the election. And that takes money. Just this month, Mr. Obama’s campaign announced a $25 million advertising buy in the battleground states in a largely positive effort to promote the president’s accomplishments in office. And on Wednesday, the campaign is paying for a two-minute attack ad about Mr. Romney’s time at Bain Capital. So far, Mr. Obama has easily outpaced Mr. Romney’s fund-raising. By mid-March, Mr. Obama’s campaign had amassed nearly 10 times the amount of cash on hand that Mr. Romney had collected. But that was just as Mr. Romney was wrapping up the nomination. The Republican candidate has plans to raise as much as $800 million to spend on the general election, and has increased his fund-raising since becoming the presumptive nominee.