Obama announces big fundraising haul

(CNN) – President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign announced Thursday that it raised more than $42 million over the past three months, with the Democratic National Committee bringing in more than $24 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

In a video to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina announced that 1.3 million people contributed to the Obama re-election campaign, and that 98% of all donations were $250 or less, with the average donation around $55.

Messina said the re-election campaign and the DNC combined brought in around $68 million in the October through December fundraising period. Top re-election officials had said their goal was to raise a combined $60 million in the fourth quarter.

The re-election campaign and the DNC raised a combined $70 million in the third quarter, and brought in around $86 million in the second quarter of 2011. The president’s re-election campaign started in April last year. The DNC’s role in 2012 is to assist the president’s re-election bid, as well as help Democratic members of Congress and Democratic congressional candidates in their races for office.

Obama’s 2008 bid for the White House broke all records by raising nearly $750 million.

In the video, Messina downplayed claims that his goal is to bring in $1 billion, saying "the billion dollar number is completely untrue."