Poll woes don't slow Obama's campaign money train
Updated: 2011-09-21 11:22
(Agencies)
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US President Barack Obama speaks at a fund raiser in New York Sept 20, 2011. Obama is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. [Photo/Agencies]
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CHICAGO/WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama is raising millions of dollars for his re-election campaign, keeping the support of big and small donors despite the sputtering economy and slumping opinion poll numbers.
Amid high unemployment and fears of a second recession, Obama has faced withering criticism from within his own party for seeming to give in too easily to Republicans in Congress and not taking a firmer stand on issues such as protecting the environment.
His approval ratings have been hovering at about 43 percent and polls show he would face a tough fight to defeat Texas Governor Rick Perry or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the two top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination to oppose Obama in November 2012.
His campaign has indicated that fund-raising slipped in the June-September quarter. And there has been discontent among some 2008 donors, with some Wall Street cash shifting to Romney, co-founder of buyout firm Bain Capital, a sign of business unease with Obama's tenure.
But if Obama lacks the rock-star status he had four years ago, his events are still selling out and his fund-raising machine is outstripping 2008. Donors said the Obama camp is worried about the country's finances, not the campaign's.
"I haven't heard anyone outwardly worried. It seems like they are on track to hit their goals," said a top fund-raiser close to the campaign, requesting anonymity to speak freely.
"Put it this way: it is not money that they are worried about. They would trade all the money for better economic data," he said.
The Democratic president still attracts the army of low-dollar givers who helped push him to the White House in 2008, and the loyalty of enough big contributors that analysts anticipate he will amass a $1 billion campaign warchest.
"Some of these people may still be disappointed, but they're not going to be ready to write Barack Obama off," said Stuart Rothenberg, an independent political analyst in Washington.
Obama, the first black US president, is a historic figure whose personal popularity outstrips his approval ratings. Known as a strong campaigner, he offers as president constant media attention and an access to power that appeals to big donors, many of whom are concerned that the Republican field is tacking too far toward the right.