As Jonathan wrote this morning, President Obama hauled in an impressive $47 million for his campaign this quarter (or $86 million, if you include the money raised by the DNC).
But, as some pundits have already pointed out, the number falls short of what the Obama campaign will need to average each quarter to meet its $1 billion goal. Perhaps realizing this, Jim Messina sent out an email earlier today, urging Obama supports not to focus on “the sum total we raised.”
“[O]ther numbers that the pundits often ignore — like how many field offices we and the DNC have open, how many one-on-one conversations we’ve had with potential supporters, and how many people have already decided to own a piece of this campaign — tell the real story of our campaign,” wrote Messina.
In the spirit of this, the RNC crunched Obama’s fundraising numbers and discovered some statistics that may have otherwise been overlooked:
UNEMPLOYMENT: As Obama Added 552,462 Donors To His Campaign, 545,000 More Americans Became Unemployed. (Obama For America, “Obama 2012 Campaign: Q2 Fundraising Results,” 7/13/11; Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 7/13/11)
DONORS-TO-JOBS RATIO – TWO TO ONE: Obama Created 2.12 Donors For Every Job Generated Over The Last Three Months. (Obama For America, “Obama 2012 Campaign: Q2 Fundraising Results,” 7/13/11; Bureau Of Labor Statistics, BLS.gov, Accessed 7/13/11)
DEBT: For Every $1 Million Obama Raised For His Reelection Over The Last Three Months, $1.9 Billion Was Added To The National Debt (Now At $14.3 Trillion). (Department Of The Treasury, “The Debt To The Penny And Who Holds It,” TreasuryDirect.gov, Accessed 7/13/11)
These numbers are a reminder that even on days when the Obama campaign seems like a Goliath, Obama is by no means undefeatable. His economic performance isn’t improving, and in the end, this is the main issue that will determine the 2012 election.
