OPINION:
Barack Obama is getting desperate. He’s fallen far behind Mitt Romney in fundraising, an unexpected lapse in his grand, billion-dollar re-election plan. The Supreme Court’s decision Thursday to leave Obamacare on the books means the president has to explain how the biggest accomplishment of his first term was a massive tax increase. That’s not much of a selling point.
While flying back to Washington on Friday after viewing the wildfires in Colorado, President Obama did his best in calls from Air Force One asking wealthy supporters to open up their wallets. The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove, who was given an audio recording of the call by one of the donors, described the president as sounding “weary and maybe a tad worried.” On the 18-minute call, Mr. Obama asked donors to max out to his campaign again this cycle, which generally means $2,500 to his Obama for America and $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee. He wanted to see those checks sent “today or as soon as possible.”
Mr. Romney has been upping the pressure, outraising the Obama campaign for the first time by $16 million in May. Mr. Obama explained that he needed to run television ads this summer. “The truth is that early money is always more valuable than late money,” he said on the call, according to Mr. Grove. “If we wait till the last minute, we could be in for a pretty rude surprise, and that’s part of what we’re trying to avoid.”
More vulgar efforts kicked in as the June 30 deadline for campaign-fundraising reports approached. To celebrate their health care victory, the Obama campaign produced black T-shirts that said, “Health reform still a BFD,” referring to a profanity used by Vice President Joseph R. Biden at the law’s signing ceremony. At noon on Saturday, Mr. Obama sent out an email seeking donations of as little as $3. Later that day, Michelle Obama pitched donors on being entered into a raffle for seats on a campaign bus tour this week. “The girls and I miss Barack when we’re not on the road with him,” the first lady wrote. “But I know he’s looking forward to hanging out with you - so I’ll let you take my seat this time.”
Hours before the reporting deadline, the Democratic campaign started giving away things from the sales bin. An email offered two orange Hispanic-themed “Obama!” bumper stickers for a donation, matching the outdated T-shirt also marked down in the store. Then at 10:45 p.m., Obama for America tweeted: “Deadline deal: Give $10 or more before midnight, get a car magnet. Simple as that.”
The former Massachusetts governor appears to have the advantage of momentum. Within 24 hours of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. embracing Mr. Obama’s health care law, the Romney campaign collected $4.6 million from 47,000 donations. That suggests the Obama campaign is going to need more than unseemly Air Force One phone-a-thons and profanity-laced clothing to convince the American people he deserves a second term.
Emily Miller is a senior editor for the Opinion pages at The Washington Times.
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