Obama Raises $70 Million In Third Quarter, His Campaign Says

Obama For America collected $43 million for campaign, $27 million for DNC

Obama for America announced Thursday a quarter of a million new donors helped it raise $70 million this past quarter, wasting little time to frame the participation as continued enthusiasm about President Obama amid the most dire political situation of his presidency.

Ninety-eight percent of donors gave $250 or less, the campaign said. Many new donors gave as little as $3, a shrewd move which gave donors the chance to have dinner with President Obama at the White House.

“If I could sum up this last quarter in a few words: You came through,” campaign manager Jim Messina said in an email to supporters. “That support translates directly to what we can do on the ground. In the past three months we’ve grown our organizing staff by 50 percent, and opened up three new field offices every week. Thousands of volunteers and organizers made 3 million phone calls and in-person visits to voters."

On Tuesday, Congress’ vote shot down the American Jobs Act -- President Obama said in a video he won't take no for an answer -- but it did not stop the Obama campaign from striking an intrepid tone Thursday.

It didn’t take long for Republican National Committee press secretary Kirsten Kukowski to fire back, either.

“President Obama spends a lot of time fundraising and is the most successful fundraiser in history,” she said. “Obama’s problem is he can’t replicate that success when it comes to creating jobs."

Dr. Steven Taylor, associate professor of political science at American University, says no amount of cash ensures Obama can simply trample over his opponents in 2012.

“I don’t think he can be thought of as unstoppable, the economy isn’t in a position where any sitting president can be thought of that way. The unemployment rate hasn’t gone down and that’s not a good omen."

Though projections say Republican candidates are expected to raise a fraction of what Obama’s raised, Taylor says that shouldn’t indicate they’re out of the fight. “There’s a lot of corporate interests associated with the Republican party,” he said. “I don’t see why they why they wouldn’t rise to the occasion. They’ve done it before.”