Obama squeaks out Aug. fundraising win over Romney

After Ohio, Romney is heading to Nevada and Florida later this week. The Romney campaign began airing television advertisements for the first time in Wisconsin this week, hoping to force Obama to play defense in a state Democrats have carried in every election since 1988.

With an eye toward undecided voters dismayed by the lackluster economic recovery, Romney and Ryan faulted Obama for failing to provide the tax relief they say holds the key to the creation of millions of jobs. Romney has pledged to lower tax rates for by 20 percent for all — including the wealthy.

Romney has said he'll pay for those cuts by eliminating loopholes and deductions for higher-income earners. But both Republicans were unyielding in saying that the specifics would come only after the election.

"Mitt Romney and I, based on our experience, think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans, and then to work with Congress to do this," Ryan said on ABC's "This Week."

Obama shot back hours later, saying the Republicans' proposals to cut taxes and cut the deficit don't make mathematical sense.

"They need to stay after school. They need to get some extra study hall in there. No recess for you," Obama said.

Early Monday, the Obama campaign released a new Web video accusing the Republican ticket of being evasive about which loopholes and deductions they would close.

Obama's campaign said more than 1.1 million people donated to his re-election effort in August, bringing its total number of donors to more than 3 million. The average donation was $58 and 98 percent of donors gave $250 or less.

Obama reversed a three-month trend at the time he needs it most, having spent heavily over the summer on advertising in an attempt to keep Romney at bay.

Romney's campaign did not release its total number of donors in August, but said about 94 percent of its donations came from people who gave $250 or less.

Associated Press writers Julie Pace in Washington, Jim Kuhnhenn in Melbourne, Fla., and Matthew Daly in Milford, Ohio, contributed to this report.

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