[Renee Montagne:] And with no primary opponent to worry about, President Obama's campaign had nearly a full year's head start for fundraising over Republican challenger Mitt Romney. But as NPR's S.V. Date reports, the president's advantage is rapidly disappearing.
[S.v. Date, Byline:] Just one month after the start of the general election campaign, Mr. Obama has seen his financial cushion sliced in half. An $80 million cash-on-hand lead at the end of April was down to $45 million at the end of May, according to new Federal Election Commission filings. Romney did out-raise Obama in May. It was the first time he'd done so.
[Renee Montagne:] But Romney and his supporting superPAC also spent about a third of what team Obama spent on television ads, yet did not get drowned out on the airwaves. That's because Crossroads GPS and two other so-called social welfare groups spent $16 million on ads in the swing states, hammering Obama. Karl Rove, Crossroads' co-founder, told Fox News the group is not a political committee, a distinction that allows it to keep its donors' names secret under tax rules.
[Karl Rove:] Well, it's a social welfare organization because it spends the vast preponderance of its money in furtherance of its social welfare goals.
[Robert Bauer:] It's a social welfare organization in his mind. That doesn't determine its status under the law.
[Date:] That's Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer. He filed a complaint this week with the FEC, citing recent court rulings and asking that it declare Crossroads GPS to be a political committee. If that happens, it would eliminate an attractive feature for donors who want to influence the election, but do not want to alienate customers.
[Karl Rove:] Crossroads' IRS filings show it has raised $77 million. Nearly 90 percent of that came from donations of at least one million. It's not clear how many would continue to give if they believed their names would be public.
[Date:] S.V. Date, NPR News.