President Obama again told supporters Wednesday that he had been outspent before, in a campaign speech in Dubuque, Iowa.
OBAMA: You know, I gotta admit, I would be worried, given the amount of money that’s being spent, if it weren’t for Iowa, if it weren’t for what I remember about 2008. See, we’ve been outspent before, we’ve been counted out before, but what I know is that when the American people cut through the nonsense and they focus on what’s important…
But the president was not outspent in 2008—by Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.) or by Sec. Hillary Clinton.
Obama consistently outraised Clinton during the 2008 cycle, and outspent the then-New York Senator in the state of Iowa, en route to his victory in the Iowa Caucuses.
Obama ultimately raised $745 million in 2008, doubling the total raised by McCain, and became the first candidate to reject public campaign funding.
Even in the current cycle, Obama has largely outraised challenge Mitt Romney, according to the Washington Examiner’s Tim Carney, until the Republican outraised the president in the months of June and July.
The president has used the line multiple times this week at campaign events in Iowa. The Obama campaign sent a fundraising email last week with the subject line, "I will be outspent."