Since the Obama campaign told congressional leaders that it will not be ponying up any cash for the 2012 congressional campaigns, there has been increased scrutiny of the Obama campaign’s financial situation.
At this point in the election cycle, President Obama has campaigned almost twice as much and has less cash on hand in his re-election bid than his predecessor, George W. Bush. According to National Journal:
[Senator Harry] Reid and [Congresswoman Nancy] Pelosi, according to Democrats aware of the sit-down with Plouffe and Messina, took their medicine without complaint. Democrats close to the situation said that the leaders emerged feeling that Team Obama was in full-blown panic mode about the need for campaign cash this fall. "They are just freaked out about super-PAC spending," said one of Pelosi’s top allies. …
Steven Law, president of American Crossroads—one of the biggest pro-GOP super PACs in Washington—said that Team Obama’s concerns are overwrought and misplaced. Law said that Obama’s real concern ought to be how much money he has raised and how fast it’s spent. So far, Obama’s campaign has raised $137 million, spent $63 million, and reports $76 million cash-on-hand. Obama has conducted 100 fundraisers already this cycle. At the same stage of the race in 2004, then-President Bush had held only 56 fundraisers but had more than $100 million cash-on-hand, said Law, who admitted to "monitoring pretty closely" Obama’s campaign finances.