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Obama donations fall short of ’08

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February 22, 2012|By Brian C. Mooney

President Obama recently changed positions and encouraged contributions… (Mark Wilson/Getty Images )

President Obama did not raise as much money from supporters last month as he did during January 2008 in his first campaign for the White House, a Globe analysis of campaign finance reports shows, suggesting a lower level of enthusiasm for the president in traditional Democratic quarters.

Contributions to Obama and the Democratic National Committee combined were down 30 percent last month compared with January four years ago. Together they raised $29.1 million in January. That is down from $41.7 million in January 2008.

Soon after last month’s fund-raising results were in, the president changed positions and encouraged contributions to his so-called super PAC, a fund-raising tool he previously shunned. The campaign did not answer directly when asked whether the sluggish fund-raising may have prompted Obama’s call for contributions to Priorities USA Action, which can accept unlimited contributions from individual supporters or corporations. Without that encouragement, the super PAC raised just $59,000 in January.

Obama’s and Democrats’ drop in contributions compared with 2008 in part reflects dramatically different circumstances: Back then, Obama was locked in a furious battle with Hillary Rodham Clinton for the party nomination.

The Obama campaign, in an e-mailed statement to the Globe, sought to tamp down the impression that it is not generating as much excitement among financial backers. It cited a preponderance of grass-roots support in its campaign reports as evidence. According to the campaign, the average donation to the Obama campaign in January was $57, and 98 percent of all donors during the campaign have given $250 or less.

“Big fund-raising months are often driven by big events in the race, like primary contests, and that was primary money in the midst of the hottest month of the primary campaign,’’ the campaign said, referring to the 2008 contest. “We’re not in the midst of a competitive primary and are putting this general election money away in the bank while investing some of it in organization on the ground the GOP doesn’t dream of matching.’’

The rate at which the Obama campaign is spending campaign funds - called its burn rate - is not as high as the field of GOP primary contenders battling for the nomination in Michigan and Arizona. But the Obama campaign is using up cash at a far greater rate than the last incumbent to seek reelection, George W. Bush in 2004, a Globe analysis of campaign finance reports shows. Moreover, the Bush campaign in 2004 set fund-raising records, even though Bush’s renomination was uncontested.