Obama has small-check donor advantage over Romney

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-obama-donor-idUSTRE8140AL20120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FPoliticsNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Politics+News%29

It does not guarantee him re-election in November, but it is an advantage President Barack Obama is likely to carry into the fall: a broad base of supporters who have given him the symbolic vote of confidence with a donation of less than $200.

Known as small donors, these people are personally invested in a candidate's march to becoming president, many ready to become active at the ground level as foot soldiers of the campaign.

Financial disclosures last week showed Obama's campaign in 2011 raised 60 percent of funds, or $58.5 million, from donors who gave less than $200.

The average listed donation to the Obama campaign in the last three months of the year was between $100 and $200, according to a Reuters analysis of the Federal Election Commission filings.