The political conventions are approaching, and hundreds of millions of dollars are flooding into Charlotte, North Carolina and Tampa, Florida. This money isn’t all from the candidates, nor is it from the party’s national leaderships. So where does it come from?

Fundraising was long thought to be a strength of the Obama campaign operation. But in his first full month as the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee raised more than $76 million. That easily bested President Obama and the Democrat's $60 million haul.