Obama Widens Fundraising Advantage

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- President Barack Obama can't be beat in fundraising. At least not yet.

The president raised $45 million in February as his campaign brought its 2012 total to some $300 million, Obama's re-election Web site reported on Monday.

"This campaign continues to be funded by folks in all 50 states giving what they can, that's why our average donation is $59," campaign employees said in a YouTube video.

As his Republican candidates sustain a muddled race mired in delegate math (something Obama experienced in 2008), the president has continued to widen his funds for the general election.

Mitt Romney, who is the Republican front-runner and best positioned to win the nomination, raised $11.5 million in February, the the second-best month of fundraising for the presidential hopeful. But he still remained far behind the incumbent president with just $74.9 million raised. Most of that money has been used for the Republican primary.

Obama received about $778.6 million for his 2008 campaign, but rumors spread that the president hoped to raise $1 billion in 2012. Campaign manager Jim Messina dismissed the claim as "bull----."

"At the end it's just a financial decision. ... It's all about whether or not we have the resources to do this," Messina said in a December video. "People have speculated this is a $1 billion campaign; that's bull----."

Romney has suffered this election season partly because of the Republican Party's latest rules change to delegate allocation as the majority of state contests before April 1 have been proportionally awarded instead of winner-take-all.

The result has been a tedious delegate grab among four candidates, three of whom have won at least two states apiece.

Where Romney might find some fundraising solace against his Democratic opponent is through the super PAC that supports the former Massachusetts governor's campaign.

Restore Our Future raised $36.8 million through January as at least five different mega-donors had given $1 million or more to support Romney's bitter contest against Republican opponents who don't seem to be planning any early exits.

Priorities USA Action, the super PAC supporting Obama, had raised only $4.5 million through January, but that number could likely increase significantly after the president's campaign openly embraced super PAC funding. Obama and his campaign had staunchly opposed special-interest spending.

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