How many fundraisers has obama attended in 2011

Naval Academy. By comparison, President George W. Bush visited battleground states just 30 times and attended 29 fundraisers for his reelection campaign in the first 10 months of But his supporters say the president is simply adjusting to the realities of a new fundraising world.

He has a point: Republicans have far outpaced Democrats in capitalizing on the relaxing of campaign finance rules that has taken place in recent years. But Obama is also partially to blame for this new world order. Like he did in , Obama will forgo the presidential matching funds program, and the limits that come with it.

In , Obama became the first major-party candidate to pass on participating in the Watergate-era program for the general election. By comparison, George W. Bush and Democratic challenger John F. Bush bypassed the matching funds program during the primary, but took the funds in the general.

Bush did, and that means he needs to raise it in small increments. As campaign costs have risen, the result is that presidents spend more and more time raising money. Doherty has been tracking presidential campaign activity going back to President Carter. His findings will be published next summer in a book about the rise of presidential fundraising and strategic travel in campaigns.

Any visit to a battleground state in which the president made a public appearance — including a fundraiser — was counted as a trip to that state. Some days, the president visited multiple states in a single day, meaning one day of travel could count as multiple trips if he appeared in more than one state. Traveling through swing states is a common tactic of incumbent presidents, but the numbers show that Obama has taken it to new levels.

A analysis by the Brookings Institution shows that Obama is on pace to have made more trips to battleground states in than did Bush or President Bill Clinton in the years before their reelection campaigns. In all of , Bush made 46 stops in swing states. Bush held for his own campaign at this point in his first term.

Obama has split the proceeds of his fundraising this year with the national party. At that pricetag, donors "don't want to meet someone who works at the White House," Corrado said.

Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said the fundraising is not a distraction. He said Obama needs a "robust fundraising operation" to counter the full-time fundraising of his Republican rivals and spending by a new crop of outside groups that can raise unlimited amounts to influence the election. Not surprisingly, Obama's most popular fundraising destination is close to the office. He's attended 19 events in Washington, D.

Donor-rich California, a Democratic stronghold in presidential elections, was second with The Golden State travel has paid off. We'll notify you here with news about. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest?