How Mitt Romney might outraise Barack Obama

Political observers have spent the last four years marveling at President Obama’s fundraising might. But now even Democrats are admitting that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney — and his allied party and outside groups — may very well outspend the current occupant of the White House between now and the Nov. 6 election.

FILE - In this July 14, 2006, file photo, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney uses a map of the Big Dig tunnels to make a point about potential trouble spots during an afternoon briefing in Boston. (AP Photo/Celina Fang)Consider this: Romney and the Republican National Committee raised $40 million combined in April roughly the equivalent of what President Obama and the Democratic National Committee brought in during that same time frame.

“It is entirely possible that Romney and the RNC could outraise the president and the DNC,” acknowledged Steve Rosenthal, a veteran labor strategist. “When you add to that the avalanche of money pouring into the right-wing super PACs, and the fact that polls are already showing a close race in most of the battleground states, it creates a troublesome scenario. For Democratic donors, now is the time to step up.”

And David Axelrod, the President’s chief adviser, tweeted this last night:

@TheFix With SuperPacs in mix? Slam dunk Team Romney will outspend us.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) May 20, 2012

What’s clear is that whether or not Republicans can raise more money than Democrats between now and November, President Obama won’t enjoy the massive cash edge he had in 2008. In that election, Obama raised $771 million as compared to just $239 million for Arizona Sen. John McCain. (McCain accepted $85 million in public financing for the general election, a mistake Romney will not repeat.)

We devoted our Monday Fix newspaper column to the idea of Romney outraising Obama. Read it here.