By: Jeffrey Klein
Political Buzz Examiner

It seems that Team Obama’s campaign cash runway is getting a lot shorter these days, as their outgo is seriously exceeding their income, at the same time they are flying into serious fund raising headwinds. So in a fit of obvious desperation, they have elected to launch a novel, yet de classe, method of public campaign contribution groveling.

A blog post on the Obama/Biden 2012 website announced the campaign’s newest fundraising ploy, the “Obama Event Registry,” which asks everyone who has an upcoming birthday, wedding, or anniversary to “support the President on your big day”–by asking they and their guests to donate money to the Team Obama campaign “in lieu of [buying] a gift,” according to Lindsay Boerma’s CBS News article last Friday.

The post goes on to say … “Let your friends know how important this election is to you … Instead of another gift card you’ll forget to use, ask your friends and family for something that will go a little further: a donation for Obama for America.”

And, the website thoughtfully includes the means by which the Obama faithful can “create” their own Obama/Biden 2012 registry accounts, concluding with … “it’s a gift that we can all appreciate–and goes a lot further than a gravy bowl.”

Unlike the rock star status of President Obama’s 2008 presidential bid, and the earlier, arrogant boasting of a billion-dollar campaign chest this time around, the campaign now humbly concedes that they expect to be financially out-gunned this year, according to Jim Geraghty’s National Review article today.

Team Obama revealed that in May, it had to crack open its cash reserves to cover all of the bills—a condition most campaigns reach much later in the cycle.

According to data filed with the Federal Election Commission, the Obama campaign spent $148.7 million in the period from April 1, 2011 through May 31, 2012–separate from any expenditures by the Democratic National Committee.

Then, to add insult to injury, even though the Obama campaign spent $25 million on television ads in the month of May, but to no avail as Obama’s poll numbers did not budge.

The cash imbalance is highlighted by the fact that Romney out-raised Obama $77 million to “roughly” $60 million in May, as reported in our June 7, 2012 article.

Another financial driving force behind the Romney election effort the 2010 Supreme Court “Citizens United” decision, allowing corporations to make unlimited contributions to “Super PACS” (political action committees), the same arrangement Democrats had enjoyed with labor unions all along.

And just today, in a de facto reaffirmation of the Citizens United case, the Supreme Court released its 5-4 ruling against the state of Montana, which sought to limit such contributions at the state level–thereby clearing the way for corporations and labor unions to advocate for or against candidates for state and local offices, according to an Associated Press article today.

Finally, to consolidate his campaign’s fund-raising momentum, Gov. Mitt Romney hosted an unprecedented event for more than 700 top fundraisers and their spouses this past weekend, to keep the money flowing as he heads into the heated fall election, as reported in Lisa Lerer’s Bloomberg News article yesterday.

This closed-door “retreat” was held at the Chateaux at Silver Lake, an Alpine style luxury resort nestled amid green mountains of Park City, Utah, near the Utah Olympic Park, a subtle reminder of Romney’s success as head of the 2002 Winter Games.

Guests were whisked in golf carts around the property to attend afternoon briefings with former secretaries of state and senators, and a “Women for Romney victory tea” featured the candidate’s wife, Ann, and former Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill.

However, the hands down highlight was the lunchtime speech given by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who explained her support for Romney–stressing the need for America to reemerge as a leader in the world–causing audience members to give her a standing ovation at the end.

Another crowd favorite was Former Secretary of State James Baker III, who said the weekend reminded him of a meeting for backers of Gerald R. Ford in Aspen, Colorado, before the 1976 election–with one significant difference…

“This year we’re going to win.”

There is little doubt that armed with this tremendous amount of corporate influence, leadership and hundreds of millions of dollars in Super PAC financial firepower, plus the fact that he is already even or ahead of Barack Obama in the polls–particularly in most swing states–Mitt Romney will be allowed to “Restore America,” as the 45th President of the United States.