President Attends 175 Fundraisers In His First Term

[Conan71]

I didn't post this to specifically pick on Obama, as I've wondered the same with other sitting presidents doing the same thing.  How much time should politicians be spending on fund raising instead of doing the job they are paid to do, and how much in public resources should they be allowed to use while doing so?  According to the Air Force, the 747 used as Air Force One costs $182K per hour to operate.  Are donors picking up the tab for it's use when the trip is specifically for a fund-raiser? 

I did find the humor in the statement that the president used a phone which is not paid for by taxpayers while he's on a plane that costs almost $200K per hour to operate.

President Obama has spent more time raising money than any of his predecessors in recent history, crisscrossing the country on Air Force One to 175 re-election fundraisers so far in his first term.

His campaign, the Democratic National Committee and their joint accounts reported more than $173 million cash on hand at the end of May, $61 million more than rival Mitt Romney and Republicans.

And after smashing fundraising records in 2008, tapping $746 million from a historic donor roll of 3 million names, Team Obama has appeared on pace to do it again.

Still, Obama and Democrats are sounding the alarm for what would seem to be unthinkable: that they are poised to be outraised and outspent by Romney, the GOP and allied outside groups.

Get more pure politics at ABC News.com/Politics and a lighter take on the news at OTUSNews.com.

"We see where we stand, and right now on a month-to-month basis, we've fallen behind," Obama told a group of high-dollar donors Friday on an 18-minute conference call from Air Force One, according to The Daily Beast, which obtained audio of the call from a participant.

"We just can't be outspent 10 to 1," Obama said. "That's what happened in Wisconsin recently. The Koch brothers and their allies spent more than the other side's entire campaign, our side's entire campaign.

[Related: The donors behind Democrats' super PACs]
"We are going to see more money spent on negative ads through these super PACs and anonymous outside groups than ever before. And if things continue as they have so far, I'll be the first sitting president in modern history to be outspent in his re-election campaign."

An Obama campaign official confirmed the veracity of the recording to ABC News, describing the meeting as a "routine finance call." (Obama uses a non-taxpayer-funded phone for political calls from the plane, the official said.)

Obama's message - that he could be the first incumbent U.S. president outspent - seeks to instill a sense of urgency in supporters as the campaign heads into a crucial stretch before the fall conventions. It also comes as part of an aggressive public and private fundraising drive that has sharply escalated in the past few weeks.

In the 48 hours before Saturday's June 30 monthly fundraising deadline, the Obama campaign sent out an unusual five email blasts pleading for cash; the appeals coming from Vice President Joe Biden, First lady Michelle Obama, DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and the president himself.

"We might not out-raise Mitt Romney," Obama wrote Saturday morning in an email with the subject line "This is important." "But I am determined to keep the margin close enough that we can win this election the right way."

Obama has also significantly stepped up his fundraising activities on the trail, attending 33 money events in 30 days in June, triple the number he held in May and his biggest month of the year.

"We don't have to match these guys dollar for dollar because we've got a better grassroots operation and we've got a better message," Obama said on the Air Force One call. "The American people, the nice thing is they agree with our message when they hear it. We just can't be drowned out."
Obama's campaign advisers have estimated that Romney and pro-Republican outside groups, including nonprofit advocacy organizations and super PACs, will spent more than $1.2 billion to try to defeat Obama.

Democratic outside groups, including pro-Obama super PAC Priorities USA Action, have so far not shown the ability to keep pace with the other side.
The Romney campaign is expected to report raising more than $100 million in June. Obama campaign officials said they don't expect the president to match that number, but declined to offer specifics on their monthly haul.

http://news.yahoo.com/obamas-air-force-one-call-donors-reveals-money-151549168--abc-news-politics.html

[nathanm]

It goes to show how terrible our political system is (as applied, not as written).

[Gaspar]

Gotta hand it to him.  He's not a quitter.  Never stopped campaigning, not once!

[Townsend]

Gotta hand it to him.  He's not a quitter.  Never stopped campaigning, not once!

And you never stop doing whatever this is you're doing.  Kudos.

[carltonplace]

I wonder if he is pushing some agenda?

[AquaMan]

Nefarious agenda no doubt.

[carltonplace]

Nefarious agenda no doubt.

Yes, Nefarious

[AquaMan]

Yes, Nefarious

I think they modeled that character after Dick Cheney.

[Teatownclown]

I didn't post this to specifically pick on Obama, as I've wondered the same with other sitting presidents doing the same thing.  How much time should politicians be spending on fund raising instead of doing the job they are paid to do, and how much in public resources should they be allowed to use while doing so?  According to the Air Force, the 747 used as Air Force One costs $182K per hour to operate.  Are donors picking up the tab for it's use when the trip is specifically for a fund-raiser? 

I did find the humor in the statement that the president used a phone which is not paid for by taxpayers while he's on a plane that costs almost $200K per hour to operate.

Goes with winning. Losers hate it....you never saw me complain once about Shrub using it constantly to go to Texass and Massachusetts and to defend something false.
Live with it. Petty.

[Gaspar]

I didn't post this to specifically pick on Obama, as I've wondered the same with other sitting presidents doing the same thing.  How much time should politicians be spending on fund raising instead of doing the job they are paid to do, and how much in public resources should they be allowed to use while doing so?  According to the Air Force, the 747 used as Air Force One costs $182K per hour to operate.  Are donors picking up the tab for it's use when the trip is specifically for a fund-raiser? 

I did find the humor in the statement that the president used a phone which is not paid for by taxpayers while he's on a plane that costs almost $200K per hour to operate.

How do you make a conference call on a electronically shielded 747 at altitude on a phone that is not tied into the aircraft's communications system?  One would think that cell phone coverage would be risky for such a call?  Somehow I think perhaps Axelrod was whispering "tell em it's our phone!"

[carltonplace]

Is the problem AF1?

Maybe the president of the United States should use his own car to get around instead of using the POTUS plane?

I remember Dick Chaney flying to Tulsa on AF2 for a fundraiser and no one peeped. GWB flew it to read my little goat in a class room, no complaints about the flight.
I don't have a problem with the Executives taking their secure plane to get where they need to go.

Should he keep a ledger of how much of the trip was spent working and how much was spent fund raising? Or are we suggesting that the USA can't afford the presidential transportation system any longer?

[Gaspar]

Is the problem AF1?

Maybe the president of the United States should use his own car to get around instead of using the POTUS plane?

I remember Dick Chaney flying to Tulsa on AF2 for a fundraiser and no one peeped. GWB flew it to read my little goat in a class room, no complaints about the flight.
I don't have a problem with the Executives taking their secure plane to get where they need to go.

Should he keep a ledger of how much of the trip was spent working and how much was spent fund raising? Or are we suggesting that the USA can't afford the presidential transportation system any longer?

Nope.  Just suggestion that they tell the truth about it, instead of making every trip about some bizarre fringe presidential activity or another "Jobs Speech". . .oh, and their just happens to be 2 fund raisers at the same time.  Just say he's on a fundraising tour like Chaney and Bush did!  What's wrong with being honest?

I'm getting tired of headlines like "President Obama flies to Seattle to give an important jobs speech at Asscrack University" then four paragraphs down you see that he will also attend two $30,000 a plate fundraising dinners.  Well, heck. . .If he's going to be over at Asscrack giving that important  speech on how everything is Bush's fault, then why not swing by the fundraisers on the way back to the airport.  Makes sense!

The last couple of "jobs speeches" he has given really didn't accomplish much anyway.  It's like listening to a 4 year old explain how airplanes work.

[Conan71]

Is the problem AF1?

Maybe the president of the United States should use his own car to get around instead of using the POTUS plane?

I remember Dick Chaney flying to Tulsa on AF2 for a fundraiser and no one peeped. GWB flew it to read my little goat in a class room, no complaints about the flight.
I don't have a problem with the Executives taking their secure plane to get where they need to go.

Should he keep a ledger of how much of the trip was spent working and how much was spent fund raising? Or are we suggesting that the USA can't afford the presidential transportation system any longer?

I've long held this view regardless of who is in the oval office.  If you think about it, as far as personal campaigning, it gives the incumbent a significant financial advantage the challenger does not have.  As well, if the president is doing a fund raiser for a congressman on the west coast, that's 8-10 hours round trip.  Shouldn't that congressperson's campaign have to reimburse the tax payers for transportation costs.

If our government hadn't been bleeding so much red ink the last 30+ years, I probably wouldn't give it much thought. 

Let's say each one of those campaign stops involved four hours round trip on AF1, that's 700 hours or $127 million dollars.  That doesn't count security detail and ground support.  Add in the fund raisers Crazy Uncle Joe does, and you'd be well north of $200 million.

Again, it's not about Obama near as much for me, I happened to come across the article this afternoon and it reminded me of how much this pissed me off when the Bushes, Clinton, and Reagan did it, though apparently, they did it somewhat less.

[AquaMan]

He's a man of the people.

Just like the people, he manages to blend a business trip with a golf game, a party or two and some fundraising efforts. The only difference is he doesn't write the entire trip off of his taxes like some Gomer who goes to a retail convention and ends up doing who knows what and calling it business expense. He also is the president 24-7 and has to take personal time to do real business and doesn't get to expense that off either.

But, yeah, he should keep a log or something.