Obama Whomps Romney in 2012’s Campaign Cash Grab (So Far)

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Mitt Romney has at last vanquished his zombie opponents and locked up the Republican presidential nomination. Polls show Romney eating away at President Obama’s lead in a head-to-head matchup, now at 3.3 percentage points, according to RealClearPolitics‘ polling average. When it comes to the campaign cash fight, however, Obama is trouncing Romney, as new fundraising numbers from the first months of 2012 make clear.

Here’s the most eye-popping stat: By the end of March, Obama’s reelection effort had 10 times more money in the bank than Romney’s campaign, $104.1 million to $10.1 million. Looking at the entire 2012 campaign, Obama’s haul is now at $196.6 million, while Romney’s is at $88.7 million. Below, we’ve visualized the January-to-March fundraising totals for the Obama and Romney campaigns, the Democratic and Republican National Committees, and a handful of key super-PACs. One takeaway: Democrats may be dominating the traditional campaign and party cash grab, but GOPers, led by Karl Rove, are dominating the outside-money battle.