Barack Obama Outearns Mitt Romney In Campaign Donations For First Time In August

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign has been warning of a dangerous funding gap for weeks, but it appears that, for the first time in August, the incumbent edged past Romney in fundraising.

President Obama’s campaign has been reaching out hard to individual supporters, particularly on social media sites like Twitter and via email, to bridge the gap in fundraising due to the large number of big donations the Romney campaign is said to receive from corporations and large donors.

And the Obama campaign has been, of late, harnessing approval bumps like the one seen after a round of rousing speeches at the DNC by rising Dem stars like Cory Booker and Julian Castro as well as old favorites like former President Bill Clinton. But, even in August, the momentum to achieve fundraising parity was there, suggesting a base that may be more energized than was previously believed for the incumbent candidate.

Jim Messina, who coordinates fundraising for Barack Obama, told press that the outpouring of support from individuals versus large special interests was stunning:

“Fueled by contributions from more than 1.1 million Americans donating an average of $58 — more than 317,000 who had never contributed to the campaign before — we raised a total of more than $114 million … That is a critical downpayment on the organization we are building across the country, the largest grassroots campaign in history.”

The Romney camp’s Chairman Spencer Zwick countered:

“Americans are not better off than they were four years ago and they are looking for a change of leadership … Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are offering bold solutions to our country’s problems. That is why we are seeing such tremendous support from donors across the country.”

Have you made a donation to Barack Obama or Mitt Romney since the campaigns began pushing hard for support in the way of dollars?