Obama makes push for ‘unparalleled’ campaign as fundraising deadline nears

By Sam Youngman - 09/23/11 03:09 PM ET

In an email to supporters, a campaign official said there is an “incredibly detailed plan for a ground game” for Obama’s reelection.

With the third-quarter fundraising deadline looming, President Obama’s reelection campaign is making a push to fund a campaign that is “unparalleled.”

In a fundraising email sent to supporters, Obama for America COO Ann Marie Habershaw said the different campaign teams had submitted their budgets for the rest of 2011, and donations would make it possible to fund those budgets.

“What we do before midnight on September 30th determines our budget until the end of this year,” Habershaw wrote in the email. “And what happens this year will set in motion the results on Election Day 2012. It’s that simple.”

After defending his title of champion fundraiser with an eye-popping $86 million in the second quarter — divided between the reelect and the Democratic National Committee — Obama was kept off the campaign trail for most of July because of the contentious debate to raise the federal debt ceiling.

A campaign aide said Friday that the July dead period was a “contributing factor” in what officials expect to be a drop-off from the second-quarter haul. The aide confirmed that campaign manager Jim Messina expects the campaign to raise about $55 million for the quarter, divided between the DNC and Obama’s reelect.

Still, the official said that in addition to the July time off, there is a “traditional drop” in third-quarter contributions.

Since July, the president has returned to the fundraiser circuit, attending fundraisers lately at homes in Washington and in New York City during the U.N. General Assembly session.

Next week, Obama will be on the West Coast to participate in a town hall hosted by LinkedIn and to promote his American Jobs Act. The president will also be attending fundraisers while on the road.

The president’s reelection campaign has been up and running in Chicago since spring, even as his approval numbers have dropped and Republicans have taken direct aim both in Congress and on the campaign trail.

Habershaw wrote that campaign officials have composed an “incredibly detailed plan for a ground game that reaches voters in all 50 states.”

“The scale we’re talking about is unparalleled, and any time someone uses the word ‘unparalleled,’ that means it probably doesn’t happen for free,” Habershaw wrote.