Obama beats Romney in August fundraising

President Obama is back on top of the fundraising game following a banner month in August. In total, the president's reelection campaign raised $114 million, edging out Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who raised $111.6 million. 

It is the first time Obama has posted a higher fundraising number than Romney in four months. Following the release of July's fundraising numbers, the Obama campaign sent out increasingly urgent emails asking supporters to contribute. One email, that was signed by the president, noted that his birthday "could be the last one I celebrate as President."

In July, the Obama campaign noted one advantage to the lagging fundraising amounts was that 98 percent of the money received by the Democratic National Committee was from donors who gave $250 or less, with the average donation being $53. Because those numbers were small, it meant that the same supporters would be able to donate again in August and September.

Jim Messina, Obama's campaign spokesman, told USA Today, "The key to fighting back against the special interests writing limitless checks to support Mitt Romney is growing our donor base, and we did that substantially in the month of August."

Messina further stated that the record high fundraising came from more than 1.1 million Americans, including 317,000 first-time donors. 

Obama and Romney aren't done fundraising yet. According to the Huffington Post, September may be an even bigger month for both following their respective conventions. The Huffington Post reported that as of Friday, at midnight, the Obama campaign had received 700,000 donations during the Democratic National Convention.