Romney Grabs $26M Lead in Fundraising

President Obama's campaign is cash-light compared to Mitt Romney's, just as Mitt is showing unexpected muscle with small-dollar donors, Politico reports. Romney's campaign and fundraising committees boasted $170 million in the bank last month, $26 million more than Obama and his committees. A big reason why: Team Obama outspent his rival by $50 million in advertising over the past 3 months.

Hoping to define Romney before he can get a foothold, Obama dropped $34 million on ads in May (more than it raised) and a whopping $43 million last month—when Romney spent only $12 million. Meanwhile, Romney collected almost $10 million from small donors in June, thanks in part to the Supreme Court's Obamacare ruling. And Republicans are crushing Democratic rivals in super PAC fundraising—even with Morgan Freeman's $1 million donation. (More Mitt Romney 2012 stories.)