• Obama hosts fundraising event at his Chicago home

    By NBC's Ali Weinberg

    CHICAGO, Ill. -- Secret Service agents, bomb-sniffing dogs and police cordons usually mean a high-level politician or dignitary is nearby.

    For the residents of a certain Kenwood enclave, it also means the neighbors are back in town. That was the scene Sunday evening on a certain stretch of Greenwood Avenue here as President Obama hosted some of his closest, $40,000 check-wielding friends for the first-ever fundraiser at his home.

    Yuri Gripas / AFP - Getty Images

    President Barack Obama walks through the Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago on Sunday.

    Standing in a corner of the front yard of his classic Georgian-style brick home, the president greeted around 75 supporters sprawled out on his manicured green lawn, the lushness of which the president commented on.

    “I have to say, the lawn hasn’t looked this good in a while. But I figured, but at least Michelle figured, that if everyone was coming over we ought to neaten up a little bit,” he said.

    Speaking from a small stage that was surrounded with a small hedge, the president made light of the fact that he was once again asking his deep-pocketed donors to pony up.

    “Being friends with a politician is a little bit like having a child perpetually in college because every so often you’ve got to write a big check. The good news is I’m about to graduate,” he joked as the crowd laughed.

    But the comic asides did contain a serious undertone – that Obama is locked in a brutal spending war with his Republican rival Mitt Romney, and is currently being outspent.

    Paul Ryan welcomed home with massive rally in Wisconsin

    He cautioned his guests that the next three months of the campaign were not going to be easy, referring to, as he has frequently in recent appearances, the Olympics to make a campaign analogy. 

    “I just want to remind you this is not going to be a race like Usain Bolt where we’re like 40 yards ahead and we can just start jogging 10 feet before the finish line,” Obama said, name-dropping the famed Jamaican sprinter. “We’re going to have to run through the tape.”

    After the quick stop at his own home, the president went back to once again being a guest as he attended two more fundraisers, both at homes in his neighborhood but none that could be called the Family Home of the United States.

    Slideshow: As it happens: Obama's fourth year in office

    Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP

    The president's fourth year at the White House in pictures — follow along as it happens.

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  • Obama donates $5,000 to his own campaign

    By Kristen Welker, NBC News

     

    For months, President Barack Obama has urged his supporters to donate money to his campaign, warning that his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, will likely outpace him in fundraising. Now, for the first time this election cycle, Obama is putting some of his own money into his war chest.

    On Tuesday, the Obama campaign released a YouTube video that shows the president donating $5,000 – the federal maximum allowed per person – to his campaign fund. The video opens with the president sitting at a computer, telling his supporters: “First of all, I think everybody should know that I really care about this campaign and I believe in what our administration is doing and I want to make sure that folks know I’m not just talking the talk, I’m walking the walk.”

    He assures voters that the first lady is on board: “I have cleared this with Michelle; I want everybody to know.” 

    A YouTube video shows President Barack Obama donating to his own campaign for the first time. His Republican challenger Mitt Romney has fundraised more than him for the last two months.

    But the issue of campaign finance is no laughing matter for team Obama (which includes the Obama Campaign, Obama Victory fund and the Democratic National Committee) which has been outpaced in fundraising for the past two months by team Romney (the Romney Campaign, the Republican National Committee and the Republican National Committee Victory Fund).  

    The Obama campaign remains on top, with nearly $100 million in its coffers, according to federal election data at opensecrets.org. The Romney campaign, by contrast, has slightly more than $20 million.

    Still, Republican-leaning super PACs have trounced their Democratic counterparts when it comes to hauling in cash. By all accounts, the super PACs have tipped the overall fundraising scales in the Republicans’ direction. 

    It is not unusual for candidates to donate to their own campaign. According to Romney aides, he and his wife each donated $75,000 to the Romney re-election effort including the RNC and Romney Victory Fund in May.

    But for Obama, this is a shift. In 2008, then-candidate Obama did not contribute to his campaign, according to an Obama for America official.

  • Gingrich teams up with NRCC to help retire debt

    By NBC's Alex Moe

     

    Updated 3:53 p.m. - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has joined forces with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to launch a fundraising committee aimed at helping to pay off the millions of debt owed by his erstwhile presidential campaign while also helping active GOP candidates for Congress.

    A committee, "Solutions Start in the House," registered with the Federal Election Commission at the end of May. Proceeds from the joint committee are split between Newt 2012 and the NRCC. The next fundraising stop for the committee is coming up in Nevada.

    "The goal of this venture is to raise money for candidates running for the House but also to  pay down our own debt," Gingrich spokesman, RC Hammond, told NBC News. "We want to pay off the debt off as fast as possible but we are realistic that it will take a few years to pay down the debt."

    After Gingrich withdrew from the presidential race in early May, FEC reports showed he was nearly $4.8 million in debt. As of last month, the campaign still owed slightly more than $4.7 million.

    Hammond says this partnership with the NRCC is just one of the avenues Newt 2012 is using to pay off the debt. Gingrich has also been traveling to various states to host small luncheons and receptions on his own to raise money and the campaign has been renting their email and mail lists in addition to Solutions Start in the House.

    Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney has not directly helped Gingrich pay off any debt but the former speaker has attended at least two known fundraisers with Romney in Georgia and Nevada that could have brought new funds to Newt 2012.

    According to a source close to many of the creditors, the campaign set up long term deals with many companies owed money back in May that they would make monthly payments. The payments came for the month of June, the source says, but not for July.

    There is still a long way to go, Hammond admitted, but said they were trying to be "proactive." Creating this group with the NRCC, fell in line with Gingrich's desire to help create a conservative platform for the GOP ticket and encourage a greater majority in the House of Representatives.

    Adding to his visibility, the former Speaker will also appear on The Tonight Show this Wednesday.