Mitt Romney's massive money lead: Time for Obama to panic?

Mitt Romney continues to expand his fundraising lead over President Obama, hauling in roughly $100 million in July to Obama's $75 million. Pro-Romney forces now have $186 million in reserves, $62 million more than Obama's campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and their joint Obama Victory Fund combined. Is this deficit something Obama can overcome, or is it time for his supporters to go into panic mode?

If Democrats aren't panicking, they're not paying attention: "In theory there's going to come a 'panic point'" where Democratic donors start taking Romney seriously and open their wallets, says Allahpundit at Hot Air. The thing is, if they let Obama fall much farther behind, he might be beyond hope. Going into the home stretch "outgunned financially and staggering under the weight of the Obama economy" is an almost certain recipe for defeat.

"Oh my: Romney’s cash advantage over Obama grows to more than $60 million"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What counts is how you spend the money: It's a good bet Obama's letters to donors are about to get a little more desperate, says Margaret Hartmann at New York. Still, "there is a small silver lining" here for Obama. A lot of his side's money is in Obama's campaign coffers, while Romney's allies at the GOP and super PACs are sitting on most of the GOP team's stash. That gives Obama more direct control over how his money is spent — and what matters most isn't how much money you have, but how wisely you spend it.

"Romney widens cash advantage, now has $62 million more than Obama"

And money isn't everything: It's hardly news that Romney has the financial advantage, says Prairie Weather at The Moderate Voice. And unfortunately for Republicans, the big news of this week isn't Romney's cash edge, but the "extremist right-wing thinking" of Rep. Todd Akin, the GOP Senate candidate in Missouri who thinks rape victims have special powers to prevent conception. "Weigh Republican money against Republican screw-ups," and it's pretty clear that if anybody should be panicking, it's the GOP.

"Republicans: Plenty of money, more crazies, and bigger deficits"

Read more political coverage at The Week's 2012 Election Center.