Romney raised $7M in two days, says Obama has forced fundraising over campaigning

Aug. 18, 2012: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks to reporters during a flight to Hyannis-Barnstable Municipal airport in Hyannis, Mass. (AP)

Mitt Romney’s raised roughly $7 million at weekend fundraising events --  money that Romney said Saturday he needs and “appreciates” but that such efforts curtail the campaigning he must do in battleground states.

Romney had two events Friday night in the Hamptons, in New York, and one each Saturday in Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Cape Cod, all in Massachusetts, said Spencer Zwick, Romney's campaign finance chairman.

Romney told reporters on Martha's Vineyard that President Obama was the first president to reject federal funding for the general election and the spending limits that go with such taxpayer-supplied funds.

"That's a challenge with a president who blew through the federal spending limits,” he said. “It means that campaigns now have to spend a disproportionate amount of time fundraising. You appreciate all the help you get, but you wish you could spend more time on the campaign trail."

Obama also broke all fundraising marks in 2008 when he won the White House the first time.

However, Romney has out raised the president for the past three months: In July, Romney raised $101.3 million, compared to $75 million for Obama. The June numbers were $106 million for Romney and $71 million for Obama. In May, Romney raised $76.8 million, compared to $60 million for Obama.

The amounts reflect money raised by the individual campaigns and the Democratic and Republican national committees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.