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President Obama is headlining a pair of fundraisers Friday: One for Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and the other for Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd. Both Democrats are preparing for tough reelection campaigns – though it's worth noting that their actual elections won't be taking place for another year.

Earlier this week, the president spoke at fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee and for Congressional candidate Bill Owens. He's also headlining events designed to create buzz and donations for candidates in tough battles, including one this week for New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and another next week for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds.

To date, the president has done 23 fund-raising events since taking office, according to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. He has helped generate more than $24 million for the DNC and for specific candidates – and that's not including the figures from events where organizers declined to reveal how much money was raised.

If that seems like a lot of fundraisers for a president with an ambitious agenda and less than a year in office, that's because it is – at least compared to his predecessor. In President Bush's first year in office, Knoller reports, Mr. Bush did only six fund-raisers.

Yet Mr. Bush was able to generate substantially more money than Mr. Obama: he brought in more than $48 million from the six events, more than the current president has raised in nearly four times as many appearances.

At Thursday's briefing, White House press secretary offered an explanation for why the president has done so many more fundraisers than his predecessor.

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Update, 12:00 p.m. ET: Wilson emerged from his office this morning and stressed to reporters that his "you lie!" comment at last night's speech was not premeditated, reports CBS News' Josh Gross.

He said that he was contacted by the GOP leadership immediately after the speech and was told to apologize. He called the White House and discussed moving forward. Both sides agreed that immigration coverage should be discussed, Wilson said.

Original post below...

Since Republican Congressman Joe Wilson shouted out that President Obama had offered a "lie" during his speech to Congress last night, his Democratic challenger has raised more than $200,000, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee tells CBS News.

The DCCC says Wilson's challenger in South Carolina's 2nd congressional district, former Marine Rob Miller, received nearly 5,000 individual contributions since Wilson's outburst.

Jill Lawrence at Politics Daily reports that a significant chunk of the money has come from readers of Daily Kos, a national liberal blog, who began a group called "Defeating the man who yelled 'liar' at Obama" on the ActBlue.com Web site.

"It's worth noting that Wilson represents a heavily GOP district," CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris points out. "John McCain received 54 percent of the vote last year, George Bush 60 percent in 2004."

"My guess is that his constituents may be a lot more forgiving of his outburst - and may actually agree with him," Chaggaris said.

Indeed, though we have no numbers on the effect this is having on Wilson's fundraising, it wouldn't be a surprise if he got a fundraising boost as well.

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The Campaign Committees for Democrats in the House and the Senate made a better showing than their Republican counterparts in fundraising for the first half of this year, reports released yesterday show.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised about $7.2 million for House Democrats in June -- more than twice the amount raised by the National Republican Congressional Committee according to Congressional Quarterly. The Republican committee brought in $3.1 million. The DCCC also reported $30.8 million raised for the first half of 2009 while the NRCC raised $17.5 million, CQ reported.

The figures were released yesterday in Federal Election Commission filings.

Democrats in the Senate will also benefit from a strong fundraising month, although their numbers are dampered by debt.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee raised $6.2 million in June, the Hill newspaper reported, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised $3.4 million. However, the DSCC reported $3.7 million in debt. The DSCC raised more than $22 million in the first six months of the year, and the NRSC raised more than $18 million.

On his sixty-fifth day in office, President Obama took his case for his ambitious and expensive budget to Capitol Hill, where Republicans and some moderate Democrats are saying it includes too much spending.

Despite calls from some in the Senate to eliminate the president’s signature middle-class tax cut after 2010, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and budget director Peter Orszag played down differences between Congress and the administration on the budget, saying the plans in both houses of Congress were "about 98 percent the same" as Mr. Obama’s.

The president also honored Medal of Honor recipients at the Arlington National Cemetery, calling them “the foremost example of greatness in service and sacrifice.”

Their bravery and humble strength continues to reassure our nation of the strength of its character and ideals even in these difficult times,” added the president.

In the evening, Mr. Obama is embarking on his first two fundraisers as president – an event at the National Women in the Arts Museum where the ticket price is $30,400 per couple, and a Tony Bennett concert at the Warner Theater were tickets go for $100, $250 and $1,000.

Watch Chip Reid’s CBS Evening News report on the president’s day below.

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On day 65 of his presidency, Barack Obama is getting back in political fundraising mode.

He'll be attending two events this evening for the Democratic National Committee that are expected to raise as much as $3.5-million.

The first event, at the National Women in the Arts Museum, carries a ticket price of $30,400 per couple. Fifty couples are attending.

The second event, a Tony Bennett concert at the Warner Theater, has tickets going for $100, $250 and $1000. Some 2,000 tickets have been sold.

Both events are said to be sold out.

After President Bush took office, he waited until April 27th to do his first political fundraiser.

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Mark Knoller is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here.

Barely two months after inauguration, President Obama will have to play cash cow for the Democratic National Committee once more. On March 25, Mr. Obama will attend the first fundraiser event since the start of his presidency, Bloomberg News reports.


The event will take place in the Warner Theatre in Washington, reports Bloomberg, with tickets ranging from $100 to $2,500 per person. Singer Tony Bennett will provide entertainment but Mr. Obama will of course be the main course.

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Sarah Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC, has turned up its fundraising efforts and is asking supporters for donations to help the former vice presidential candidate work "every day to reform government in Alaska and fight for the conservative values we all cherish."

In an email to Palin supporters, SarahPAC said it "supports leaders and candidates that share Governor Palin's vision of government reform, law taxes (sic), and personal freedom." The email announced that Palin will be traveling the country in support of these like like-minded candidates.

"But we can't do it without you," the email read, asking: "will you join Governor Palin's team and make a contribution so SarahPAC...can support the Governor's efforts to reform government and help elect leaders who share our conservative values?"

The email detailed Governor Palin's political activities since she and Senator John McCain were defeated in their 2008 presidential bid.

It said that Palin is praying for families in economic distress and notes that she recently proposed legislation that she hopes will provide relief for Alaskans struggling to heat their homes and generate the power they need.

Palin also apparently traveled to western Alaska with Christian evangelist Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham.

Thrust from near obscurity to national fame during the 2008 presidential campaign, the former vice presidential nominee seems to be maintaining her political ambitions.

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From the Associated Press:

A Chicago minister tells The Associated Press he and other black pastors who previously supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris now plan to ask him to resign.

The minister spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris hadn't yet been scheduled. He says the senator can no longer serve effectively.

Many of the city's black pastors supported seating Burris because of his scandal-free reputation — even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich after the governor was arrested.

But revelations that Burris attempted to raise money for Blagojevich while seeking the Senate job have eroded some of his support. Blagojevich is accused of trying to sell the Senate appointment.

A Burris spokeswoman didn't immediately return a phone message.

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Barack Obama today sent an e-mail to supporters asking for donations to help pay for his presidential inauguration.

"I know we've asked a lot of you," Obama acknowledges in the e-mail, a reference to his unprecedented fundraising efforts during his presidential campaign.

"Just like we did on the campaign, we're relying entirely on supporters like you -- ordinary people giving whatever they can afford to make [the inauguration] an event for all Americans," the e-mail says.

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Click Here To See All Of CBSNews.com's Special Inauguration Coverage

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Mr. Obama – who signs off with his first name in the e-mail – writes that new contributions are needed because his team is organizing the "most open and accessible inauguration in our nation's history" without the help of lobbyists or big corporations.

Mr. Obama has already taken in about $27 million for the inauguration; "much of it with single checks of $25,000 or $50,000 from executives from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and Hollywood as well as from former supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton," the New York Times reports. Donors thus far include Steven Spielberg, George Soros and Halle Berry.

According to NPR, the inaugural committee and transition project together need $50 million, however, and are now facing potential budget shortfalls.

"The inaugural committee pays for the official inaugural festivities: the lavish balls, the jumbo video screens on the National Mall, most of the parade activities and almost everything else except the swearing-in ceremony itself," writes NPR. "The transition project finances the grunt work of the new administration, ranging from recommending appointees to assessing the condition of agencies."

In the e-mail, Mr. Obama uses an age-old tactic to encourage donations: He offers a prize.

"And if you make a donation of any amount before midnight tonight, you could be selected to come to Washington, D.C., and be part of the welcome ceremony, the swearing in, the Inaugural Parade, and the Inaugural Community Ball," he writes. Full e-mail below.

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