Obama Raised $150 Million in September

This update means.. that the one billion mark is easily within reach for the Obama ’12 Campaign.. as the required amount was about $117 million for September and October each.. and meaning that they’ll pass the mark after about $85 million in October.. 

Not a big cause for celebration though.. and a bit concerning… that so much big money goes into the Democratic Party..

Obama Raised $150 Million in September:

The Obama campaign “set a new monthly fundraising record for the 2012 election cycle, taking in more than $150 million in September as supporters rallied behind the president in the final phase of the election,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The September total far surpasses the $114 million raised in August, when the Obama team snapped a three-month streak in which it was outraised by Republican challenger Mitt Romney. At the time, the $114 million was the most the Obama campaign had collected in any one month in the 2012 election season. The most the Romney campaign has collected so far was $111 million in August.”

(Via Pwire.)

Alan Grayson is back – and running for FL 9th Congressional District.

Alan Grayson is back campaigning in Florida – and just released a positive ad!!
The reasoning being this:

Here is a startling statistic: Every single penny of the $59 million that Karl Rove’s Super PAC, American Crossroads, has put up on the air has been spent on a negative ad. And every single penny of the $36 million that the Koch Brothers’ Super PAC, Americans For Prosperity, has put up on the air has been spent on a negative ad. The same thing is true of $23 million in DNC ads, and $22 million in RNC ads. 100% negative.

Here’s the Ad:

And they’re still raising money to try to afford airing it a little bit longer – as the Swing States and Super PAC combo have raised the bar for access to TV spots triple fold:

You know that great positive ad for our campaign that we showed you a couple of days ago? That breath of fresh air, dispelling the stench of paid political advertising?

It’s off the air. We have assumed broadcast silence.

Why? Because the Super PACs have spent $25.6 million on Orlando TV, and the cost of TV spots here has tripled.

More..

Obama Campaign slams Ryan Budget.

That was fast.

And the tax issue grows….

Oh I don’t know..

Reid: “I’ve heard he didn’t pay taxes”

Romney: “Put up or shut up!”

Reid: “You put up! Your taxes!”

And thus the nation talks some more about the taxes.

Death Star on Gingrich vs. on Obama

Just a note – as some wonder what happened to the negative ad barrage from Romney in the primaries; All candidates are not equally flawed – or easy to squash.

It’s not equally effective – on all targets.

Using negative ads to take down a Santorum, a Gingrich – or now a Romney – by simply presenting historical facts or examining their proclaimed prime qualifications, that is not dirty games. It’s relevant and fair games.

But presenting a long history of outsourcing, tax havens or secretivness about tax returns has a very different effect politically than the facts of a slow recovery or flat unemployment rate – at least for the moment.

From Pwire:

“Newt Gingrich complained loudly — some called it whining — when Romney first hit him with a negative ad barrage in Iowa. Then, when Romney attacked on a far bigger scale in Florida, Gingrich reacted badly again. Privately, the Romney campaign, which at times seemed to delight at kicking the hell out of a Republican opponent, had no respect for Gingrich’s tendency to complain when attacked. Just take it and hit back harder — that was the way they saw it. Now, however, Romney is complaining about Obama’s attacks. Romney is far more self-controlled than Gingrich, but the effect is the same; he’s whining about the other guy treating him badly. It’s the same thing that happened in the primary campaign, only with Romney on the hurting end.”

Read more.

No Apologies.

The Obama campaign message on Romney is getting polished and hardened for each day that passes now.

No apologies. This is necessary and relevant.

Here’s from an interview on WAVY last night:

“No. We will not apologize. Mr Romney claims he’s Mr. fix-it for the economy because of his business experience, so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know what is exactly his business experience.”

“And as the head of a private equity firm his job was to maximize profits and help investors. There is nothing wrong with that. On the other hand that company also was investing in companies that were called by the Washington Post ‘the pioneers of out sourcing.’ Mr. Romney is now claiming he wasn’t there at the time except his filings with the SEC listing says he was the CEO, Chairman, and President of the company. As President of the United States, I’ve learned and we just talked about it, anything that happens on my watch is my responsibility. Harry Truman said ‘the buck stops with me’ and I think understandably people are going to be interested in are you in fact responsible for this company you say is one of your primary calling cards for your wanting to be President.”

And this statement is effective on so many levels. It hits Romney in many places at once – but it also makes a larger case for what kind of practices made a few people extremely rich at the expense of the middle class during the last three decades.

Full clip here – from 2:10.

With friends like these

It’s steadily piling up with big name Republicans slamming Romney these days – behaving just like insubordinate Democrats!

Will: He’s hiding something.

On the tax returns:

George Will: “If something’s going to come out, get it out in a hurry. I do not know why, given that Mitt Romney knew the day that McCain lost in 2008 that he was going to run for president again that he didn’t get all of this out and tidy up some of his offshore accounts and all the rest. The cost of not releasing the returns are clear. Therefore, he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.”

GOP strategist Matthew Dowd: “There’s obviously something there, because if there was nothing there, he would say, ‘Have at it.’ So there’s obviously something there that compromises what he said in the past about something.”

William Kristol: “He should release the tax returns tomorrow. It’s crazy. You gotta release six, eight, 10 years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two.”

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley (R): “If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong. I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”

GOP strategist John Weaver: “There is no whining in politics. Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns.”

..

Meanwhile, the Democrats are disciplined, in line, on message and consistent on the Bain Pain pile-driver. Welcome to Bizarro World.

Middle-Class Tax Cuts.

More statments from the aggressive and refreshed Obama campaign – confronting misinformation and calling out cable networks by name.

Obama cut taxes for the Middle Class.

Said Obama:

“I have cut taxes for middle-class families by an average of $3,900 since I’ve been in office,” he said to applause in Virginia Beach.

“So just in case some of your friends or neighbors, or Uncle Jim, who’s a little stubborn and been watching FOX News and he thinks that somehow I raised taxes, let’s just be clear: We’ve lowered taxes for middle-class families since I came into office,” he said.

Read more here..