Obama close to raising $1 billion after near-record September tally

By Dan Eggen, WashPost, Updated: Saturday, October 6, 11:33 AM

President Obama’s reelection campaign, which only two months ago fretted that it was losing the money race to Republican challenger Mitt Romney, said Saturday that it was on the cusp of raising $1 billion for the 2012 election after posting its strongest fundraising month of the year.

The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee raised $181 million last month, easily eclipsing the $114 million that they had raised together in August. The number falls just shy of the all-time monthly record of $193 million, however, which was set by Obama in September 2008.

Campaign manager Jim Messina wrote in an e-mail to supporters that Obama’s fundraising efforts in 2012 mark “a historic record for grass-roots politics.” The campaign says it has collected more than 10 million individual donations so far this year.

The September haul caps a turnaround in Obama’s financial status since May. He fell behind his Republican opponent in monthly fundraising through July, but he edged out Romney in August, $114 million to $112 million.

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