Obama campaign maintains cash edge, but Romney and his Super PACs loom

Mitt Romney's (not so) secret weapon
(Jim Bourg/Reuters)

The Wall Street Journal's Danny Yadron notes the Obama campaign's cash-on-hand advantage over Mitt Romney:

The Obama campaign and affiliates at the DNC and Obama Victory fund had $144.3 million of cash on hand at the end of April, more than double the $61.4 million for the Romney campaign and its affiliates at the Republican National Committee, FEC figures showed.

It would be a mistake to get cocky, however. As Yadron points out, Mitt Romney has the ability to close the gap. First, now that Romney is officially the presumptive nominee, he can coordinate fundraising efforts with the RNC, effectively raising the limit on contributions to to $75,000 per individual. Second, Mitt Romney has a network of Super PACs that will back him:

Unless things change, the Obama campaign will be largely on its own to combat a wave of TV ads from Republican super PACs, such as American Crossroads, which was started with the help of former Bush strategist Karl Rove. Democratic donors have been slow to support similar groups on their own side, though the party will have money and manpower from its allies in organized labor.

To put this in perspective, Karl Rove's American Crossroads plans to spend $200 million and has already raised half that. The Romney-aligned Restore Our Future Super PAC has already spent $45 million boosting Romney and had $8.2 million in the bank at the end of April. Priorities USA, the Obama-aligned Super PAC, had just $5 million in the bank at the end of March. Unless big donors step up, Priorities USA won't be able to match the likes of Rove's group and the Romney Super PAC'and that doesn't even include other groups like Americans for Prosperity, America Future Fund, and the Republican Majority Fund, all of which are going after Obama. And just today, the Chamber of Commerce'which also opposes Obama'said it will dump more than $50 million into the campaign.

Obviously, the Obama campaign is on solid ground financially, but it's increasingly clear that between his campaign and allied groups, Mitt Romney will be able to meet'or surpass'the president's fundraising.