King of fundraising: Obama leads Romney by $242 million

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While the most recent Gallup poll shows registered voters equally split, at 47 percent a piece, in the money race President Barack Obama has an unassailable lead. 

In the 2012 campaign cycle, Obama's campaign, the Democratic National Committee and two joint fundraising committees supporting them have collectively raised $743.5 million. The campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, his joint fundraising committee and the Republican National Committee have raised $500.6 million. Because the joint fundraising committee, Romney Victory Inc., files quarterly, its total had to be estimated from media accounts of the campaign's August fundraising totals.

The fundraising dominance of the Obama campaign paid off In August, when his campaign reported spending $66.2 million on media buys, consulting and production–nearly five times as much as the $18 million spent by his opponent, former Masachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, on getting his message out.

Heading into the election's final weeks, Romney, the RNC and an estimated total for Romney's joint fundraising committee show the Republicans lead in cash on hand, with $165 million vs. $125 million for Obama, the DNC and the joint committees, Obama Victory Fund 2012 and the Swing State Victory Fund. However, the New York Times reported that much of the money Romney raised for the RNC over the summer is earmarked, not for his own campaign, but for congressional campaigns and state party committees.

Comparing just the Romney and Obama campaign committees, the President again has the advantage, with $38.3 million more in the bank than the Romney campaign, which also reported debts of $15 million after taking out a $20 million loan in August.