Nation & World

The Obama campaign, which shattered all records for political fundraising in 2008, has concluded that it could be dramatically outspent this year by the GOP nominee and allied conservative groups, according to senior aides and advisers.

That revised analysis, spurred on by a wave of outside spending in the Republican primaries, led to President Obama's decision this week to throw his weight behind the efforts of a Democratic super PAC that has struggled to remain competitive without the clear support of the incumbent.

The move signals a remarkable turnabout for a politician who has spent much of his career railing against the influence of such groups on elections, calling them a "threat to democracy" during the 2010 midterms. It also underscores how much the landscape has changed since 2008, when Obama easily outdistanced his Republican opponent in fundraising.

Faced with conservative groups raising tens of millions of dollars in unlimited donations, officials said, Obama decided to cast aside idealism for pragmatism in an attempt to remain competitive in November.

The reversal, which called to mind a similar Obama decision in 2008 to decline public matching funds, angered liberal-leaning activist groups already disappointed with the president's mixed record on lobbying and campaign-finance overhaul. Republican leaders also piled on the criticism, accusing Obama of hypocrisy in deciding to embrace a system he has long opposed.

"Just another broken promise," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters Tuesday.

The Democratic worries come despite a blockbuster fundraising year for the Obama campaign, which together with the Democratic National Committee raised $224 million. Obama's campaign raised $745 million during the 2008 election cycle, and advisers have long expected that his campaign will at least approach that goal again.

But Obama advisers and their allies now think Romney's campaign could raise about as much as Obama by the time of the general election, combined with $500 million from conservative groups. It is unclear whether unions and other liberal groups would be able to fill the gap, they said.

The super PAC supporting Obama, Priorities USA Action, has also had trouble raising money without Obama's explicit support, bringing in just $4.1 million last year, nearly half of it from Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Romney, raised $30 million, including 11 donations of $1 million or more.