Poll woes don't slow Obama's campaign money train (Reuters)

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – 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 U.S. 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.

'CLASS WARFARE'

"We've heard a lot of concern about the right wing Republican agenda, what many people refer to as 'taking the country backwards' or 'in the wrong direction,'" said Andrew Spahn, a Los Angeles based consultant who is advising DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg as he raises money for Obama's re-election campaign.

Katzenberg, who hosted two sold out, big-dollar fundraisers in the spring, has committed to pumping $500,000 for the Obama campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Obama appealed to his base strongly on Monday by laying out a $3.6 trillion plan to cut U.S. budget deficits partly by raising taxes on the rich, which Republicans rejected as "class warfare" and a political stunt.

Some major Democratic supporters, including big labor unions, have responded positively to the plan. Opinion polls also show voter misgivings about Washington's handling of the economy extend to Republicans in Congress, as well as Obama.

"In the end, every American is frustrated with the economy and the way governance works, but that all doesn't fall on the president's shoulders," said Howard Bragman, a Hollywood publicist and longtime Democratic activist.

"His base hasn't left him and they're the ones who are the organizational spine of this campaign," he said.

Obama raised up to $2.8 million at fundraisers in Washington on Thursday and millions more on Monday in New York, where he warned donors of a "very perilous path" if his debt reduction plan is not passed. More fundraisers are on tap in New York and California in the coming days.

Member of his team stress that Obama's campaign had more than 520,000 individual donors in the second quarter of 2011, more than it had for all of 2007, and of those 260,000 had never given before.

Obama's fundraising far outstripped any of his Republican rivals in the second quarter of 2011, as he and the Democratic National Committee raked in $86 million. Romney, who led all Republicans, raised $18 million.

Campaigns do not have to release their third-quarter fundraising totals until October 15, but Obama's set a goal on September 9 of raising $55 million between June and September, to benefit the re-election efforts and the Democratic National Committee.

Presidential fundraising typically wanes in the summer the year before the election, and it was hit more this year because Obama canceled a series of events in July during protracted debt negotiations with Republicans in Congress.

(Additional reporting by Kim Dixon, writing by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Alistair Bell)

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Warren launches US Senate campaign with Mass. tour (AP)

BOSTON – Harvard Law professor and consumer advocate Elizabeth Warren officially launched her Democratic campaign for the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, hoping for a chance to take on Republican Sen. Scott Brown in next year's election.

Warren, who greeted commuters at a subway station in Boston before embarking on a tour of the state, cast herself as fighter for the middle class, saying she's "stood up to some pretty tough folks over the past few years."

"There's been a lot of very powerful interests who have tried to shut me down, squeeze me, push me sideways and so far it just hasn't worked," Warren said. "I'm willing to throw my body in front of a bus to try to stop bad ideas that are going to be harmful to the middle class."

Warren was heavily courted by Democrats hoping to win back the seat long held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy. Democrats are also trying to hold onto their narrow Senate majority by ousting Brown.

Warren was tapped by President Barack Obama last year to set up a new consumer protection agency, but congressional Republicans opposed her leading the office. She returned to Massachusetts this summer.

Supporters say her image as a crusader against well-heeled Wall Street interests and her national profile will give her candidacy muscle, though she's never run for political office.

Some Democrats, including Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, have voiced skepticism about how strong a candidate she will be, given her lack of political experience.

Warren said she knows she has to make her case in a crowded primary if she wants a chance to challenge Brown next year.

Brown political adviser Eric Fehrnstrom called Warren's entrance into the race evidence of a "crowded, long and divisive Democratic primary."

"In the meantime, people are hurting and they are looking for work. Scott Brown is going to keep his focus on creating jobs, keeping taxes low, and getting spending and debt under control," Fehrnstrom said.

Republicans have already branded Warren as a liberal academic from Cambridge whose Harvard ties put her out of touch with working families. They've also mocked her as an outsider whose roots are in Oklahoma where she grew up and not Massachusetts.

Democratic leaders are banking that her national profile will help her raise the money needed to topple Brown, who has more than $10 million in his campaign account.

A recent Boston Globe poll showed Brown as the most popular major politician in the traditionally Democratic state. Brown shocked the political establishment by beating Attorney General Martha Coakley in last year's special election to succeed Kennedy. He was a little-known state senator who cast himself as a moderate, an average guy with his trademark barn coat and pickup truck. He once posed as a Cosmopolitan magazine centerfold.

Other Democrats already announced include Setti Warren, no relation to the consumer advocate, the first-term mayor of the affluent Boston suburb of Newton and the state's first popularly elected black mayor; City Year youth program co-founder Alan Khazei; immigration attorney Marisa DeFranco; state Rep. Tom Conroy; Newton resident Herb Robinson; and Robert Massie, who unsuccessfully ran for lieutenant governor in 1994.

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Associated Press writers Andrew Miga in Washington and Bob Salsberg in Boston contributed to this report.

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Obama campaign expects lower summer fundraising (AP)

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama's re-election campaign expects to raise tens of millions of dollars less this summer than it did in the spring because negotiations over the nation's debt limit forced Obama to cancel several fundraisers.

Obama's campaign said Wednesday it canceled or postponed 10 fundraisers involving the president, Vice President Joe Biden and White House chief of staff Bill Daley in the past month because of the debt talks, scrubbing events in California, New York and elsewhere.

Only weeks after the president's campaign reported collecting a combined $86 million with the Democratic National Committee, Obama's team is trying to lower expectations about its fundraising juggernaut while signaling to its army of volunteers and activists that they need to fill the void. Obama is coming off a bruising battle with congressional Republicans over raising the government's debt ceiling and is expected to face a formidable challenge from Republicans in 2012 against the backdrop of a weakened economy.

"We're going to raise significantly less in the third quarter than we did in the second quarter," said Jim Messina, Obama's campaign manager. "We will not be able to replace all of these events just because of his busy schedule. We always knew that he had his job and we had to do this around his schedule, and the truth is we just have to deal with canceling a month's worth of events."

Obama holds a large fundraising advantage over his Republican rivals and was raising money later Wednesday in his hometown of Chicago on the eve of his 50th birthday. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney hauled in more than $18 million through the end of June, while all of his GOP primary opponents were in the single-digits.

Democrats said the slow fundraising pace during the summer was expected because many donors are on vacation and high-dollar events don't typically resume until after Labor Day. Obama, meanwhile, was taking a jobs-oriented bus tour of the Midwest in mid-August and was not scheduled to hold many donor events during the month. The fundraising quarter was expected to feature smaller gatherings headlined by Obama "surrogates," or high-profile supporters such as governors and lawmakers.

"This is not an easy time to raise money," said former Rep. Martin Frost, D-Texas, who led the House Democrats' fundraising arm. Frost said many donors may not feel compelled to give money yet because the campaign is still in its early stages and no clear Republican rival has emerged.

Obama has experienced a summer lag in fundraising before. During his first presidential campaign, Obama raised about $21 million in the summer of 2007, compared with about $33 million in the spring of that year.

Messina said the campaign had not yet set a revised goal for the current fundraising period ending Sept. 30 but would urge "grass-roots fundraisers" to step up their efforts in the weeks ahead. The campaign has emphasized its large donor base — more than 550,000 people gave money during the spring — and it plans to lean heavily on small donors in August and September.

"We're going to be very aggressive in trying to find ways to engage the grass roots," Messina said. "We always said ... they're the biggest piece of this and they own the campaign and we're about to give them an even tougher assignment."

Obama signed legislation on Tuesday to raise the debt limit and avoid a government default, but the negotiations kept him in the Washington area for the past month. Obama's last fundraiser was in Philadelphia on June 30.

The campaign said the debt talks required Obama to cancel two fundraisers in Southern California and events in Northern California, Seattle, New York and Washington, D.C.

Biden had to skip fundraisers in Atlanta, Nashville, Tenn., and Dallas, while Daley canceled an event in the nation's capital. Obama's fundraiser in New York at the home of film mogul Harvey Weinstein is expected to be rescheduled for this month, while Biden's events are being rescheduled for the fall.

Obama is keeping his schedule on Wednesday, attending fundraisers in Chicago to celebrate his birthday, including a concert with Chicago natives Herbie Hancock and Jennifer Hudson and the Chicago rock band OK Go. Obama turns 50 on Thursday.

Republicans have accused the president of emphasizing campaign money over governing, criticizing plans for the lavish birthday party.

"With 9.2 percent unemployment, he could work on creating jobs, but I suppose the White House is thinking he should stick to the part of his job he really likes," Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said.

As part of Obama's birthday events, Democratic officials and campaign aides are fanning out across the country for fundraisers: former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs and deputy campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon will be in Boston, White House adviser David Plouffe will be in Tampa, Fla., New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo will headline a New York City event and Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod will be in Los Angeles. Other events with Democratic surrogates will be held in Austin, Texas; Oakland, Calif.; and Washington, D.C.

Besides the birthday fundraisers, the campaign is planning hundreds of house parties around the country and has asked supporters to recruit 50 new supporters for the president's birthday.

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Ken Thomas can be reached at http://twitter.com/AP_Ken_Thomas

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Colbert gets conditional OK on campaign finance (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission said Thursday that comedian Stephen Colbert can use his TV show's resources to boost his political action committee, but he must disclose some major expenses as in-kind contributions from the show's corporate owners.

Colbert played it straight during his appearance before the commission, letting his attorney do most of the talking while saving his trademark quips for a crowd that gathered outside the commission building after the meeting.

"I don't accept the status quo," he told the crowd, brandishing a portable credit card processing machine. "I do accept Visa, Mastercard or American Express."

Many in the crowd handed Colbert their credit cards or dollar bills as contributions.

Asked what point he was trying to make about corporate America, Colbert did not miss a beat.

"None," he quipped. "I want their money."

Colbert, who plays a conservative TV pundit on "The Colbert Report," is forming Colbert Super PAC, a type of political action committee which will allow him to raise unlimited amounts of money from corporations, unions and individuals. The money will be used to support or oppose candidates in the 2012 elections through independent expenditures such as TV ads.

The FEC decision comes amid a broader erosion of campaign finance regulations in the wake of recent court rulings and with Republicans on the Federal Election Commission and elsewhere pushing for a rollback to give corporations and other wealthy donors stronger sway in financing campaigns.

Colbert had asked the commission for a so-called "media exemption" to allow him to use his show's airtime, staff and other resources for his political action committee without having to publicly disclose them as in-kind contributions from Comedy Central's parent company, Viacom Inc.

Colbert has said those undisclosed contributions could include the use of his show's staff to create TV advertisements about candidates that would air as paid commercials on other shows and networks.

The commission ruled 5-1 that he would have to publicly disclose as in-kind contributions from Viacom any ads produced by the show for Colbert Super PAC that air on other shows or networks. He would also have to disclose administrative costs that his show covers for Colbert Super PAC.

The Colbert ruling eclipsed a lesser-noticed decision by the Federal Election Commission Thursday that could also have a significant impact on the 2012 elections.

The commission said that candidates and party officials may solicit contributions for super PACs, but those contributions could not exceed the $5,000 limit for donations that applies to traditional political action committees.

Some campaign watchdog groups had feared that the commission might permit candidates and party officials to solicit unlimited contributions, opening yet another door to big-ticket donations.

While Colbert delights in lampooning politicians on his Comedy Central show, he raised some serious issues about public disclosure of corporate campaign contributions before the Federal Election Commission.

"Stephen Colbert is a funny man, but he asked a legitimate question and received a serious answer," said Federal Election Commission chair Cynthia Bauerly. "The opinion adopted today does not give him everything he asked for, but it appropriately applies the press exemption consistent with past Commission and court precedent. "

Some campaign finance watchdog groups had warned that a favorable ruling for Colbert could spur many more undisclosed contributions to political figures who are TV hosts or commentators and who could opt to create their own super PACs to take advantage of any new loopholes.

The groups cited politicians such Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum who already have traditional political action committees and are either working now, or have worked, as TV hosts or commentators.

"The Colbert Report" has used satire to shine a light on campaign finance rules following the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court that helped pave the way for super PACs. Campaign finance reform advocates complained the ruling gave wealthy donors, particularly companies and unions, considerably more sway in politics.

Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions from corporations, labor unions or individuals, unlike candidates or traditional political action committees. Super PACs cannot contribute directly to candidates, however.

Colbert has said any ads for Colbert Super PAC would not be coordinated with any candidate or party.

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