US News

Obama team hauls in $68M

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s re-election campaign raised $68 million in the last three months of 2011 alone — but fell short of the record pace needed to hit the $1 billion mark.

Obama, famed for his fund-raising prowess and record-shattering $750 million 2008 haul, took in less this time than George W. Bush’s $70 million in the same period in 2003.

The fourth-quarter numbers, combining money collected by the campaign and the Democratic National Committee, boosted the president’s 2011 total to $220 million, an intimidating war chest usually.

But Obama this year faces an onslaught of unlimited spending by super PACs and deep-pocketed independent groups unleashed by new campaign-spending rules.

His campaign insists he’ll top $750 million for 2012, but it is discouraging talk of a billion for fear it could lull donors into complacency, said campaign manager Jim Messina.

Still, Obama enjoys a big money advantage over the candidates seeking the Republican presidential nod.

Front-runner Mitt Romney’s campaign this week announced it raised $24 million in the last quarter, for a total of $56 million.