Complaining about being significantly out-raised and outspent by his Republican challenger, President Obama told supporters Friday it’s high time to pony up some cash to help him compete in the final stretch of the election.

“I just got back from Iowa, where we are being out-spent two-to-one on the air,” Mr. Obama wrote in an email to supporters. “Voters there mentioned it to me more than once.”

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While the president said he expects Republicans and GOP rival Mitt Romney to outspend him, he said “he will not abide” getting outspent by a margin that negates all the hard work of his volunteers across the country.

“We are in control of that outcome, but our time to close the gap is dwindling,” he wrote, asking for a $5 or more donation. “After three consecutive months of being significantly out-raised, it couldn’t be more urgent.”

In closing, Mr. Obama offered a sweetener — a reminder that making a donation automatically enters the donor and a guest the chance to sit with first lady Michelle Obama at the Democratic convention in Charlotte next month.