Report: Obama piles up more cash than entire Republican field

March 14, 2012: President Barack Obama answers a question during a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron of the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington. (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Republican Party's extended primary campaign has allowed President Barack Obama to build a huge financial lead for the fall election.

New fundraising reports released Tuesday show that Obama is stockpiling cash as the GOP hopefuls are burning through their money while campaigning against one another in the primary campaign.

Obama's campaign reported $85 million in reserves at the end of February, an increase from $76 million at the end of January, according to February campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. That is more than six times the amount of money that the entire Republican field had in the bank at the end of February, according to the reports.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led his Republican rivals with $7.3 million on hand at the end of the month. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Rep. Ron Paul put together had about $5.5 million in the bank at the end of February, according to fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

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