Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney last month was able to cut President Obama's fundraising advantage in half. His fundraising outstripped the Obama campaign — while at the same time, Romney was able to spend less, thanks to outside groups that continued a barrage of negative ads against his opponent.
RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: 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>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: 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.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: 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.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: 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.</s>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.</s>ROBERT BAUER: It's a social welfare organization in his mind. That doesn't determine its status under the law.</s>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.</s>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.</s>DATE: S.V. Date, NPR News.