Obama Campaign Relying on Ground Game to Counter Romney Money

President Barack Obama’s campaign officials say they are braced for an election decided by a razor-thin margin and are counting on their political organization in key states to overcome what they expect will be Republican Mitt Romney’s money advantage.

The president’s political advisers said that outside political action committees supporting Romney are likely to pour as much as $1 billion into the race, outspending Obama and the Democrats. One of the so-called super PACs supporting Romney, Restore Our Future, reported raising almost $5 million in May and had about $8.4 on hand at the end of the month.

Obama’s campaign advisers, who asked for anonymity to brief reporters on election tactics, said their advantage will be their extensive operation to identify and turn out Obama voters. The campaign, for example, has 35 offices in Ohio and 40 in Florida, two crucial swing states in November, the officials said.

Romney’s fundraising outpaced Obama’s last month. Romney and his general-election partners, the Romney Victory Fund, raised $76.8 million in May, the campaign previously said. Obama and his joint committee raised about $60 million, his campaign said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net; Hans Nichols in Washington at hnichols2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1@bloomberg.net

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Obama Campaign Relying on Ground Game to Counter Romney Money

Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

A supporter with a cutout of President Barack Obama near a house where Obama is holding a campaign event in Los Angeles.

A supporter with a cutout of President Barack Obama near a house where Obama is holding a campaign event in Los Angeles. Photographer: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images