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This graph shows total fundraising and spending in United States presidential elections from 1976 to the ongoing election in 2012. About 1.3 billion U.S. dollars were spent in the 2008 election, when Barack Obama became president. In the ongoing election, total contributions to presidential candidates, as of May 6, 2012, have totaled about 420 million U.S. dollars. Total spending as of this same date is sitting at around 300 million U.S. dollars. Money used by super PACs is not included in this statistic.