Obama's 2012 Campaign Fundraising Could Top $1 Billion

Well, we can expect at least one part of the economy to boom in the next two years: Some observers believe President Obama will raise -- and spend -- over $1 billion in his likely re-election campaign.

Obama raised a record $745 million in his 2008 run, the Washington Post reports, dwarfing Sen. John McCain's $368 million. Two-thirds of Obama's funds were raised online, and with the increased influence of the Internet in politics, that amount could easily be topped next time around, says Ben Ginsberg, a former adviser to 2008 GOP candidate Mitt Romney.

Plus, past elections show a statistical progression indicating that the $1 billion mark isn't far-fetched. In 2004, George W. Bush raised $367 million to Sen. John Kerry's $328 million.

The Post notes that a key difference in the '04 and '08 campaigns was that Obama opted out of public financing for the general election, which allowed him to maximize his appeal to previously untapped groups and individuals energized by his candidacy. In the final months of the campaign, his fundraising advantage allowed him to overwhelm McCain on television in every swing state. Given that precedent, neither major party candidate is expected to participate in the public financing system in 2012.