Pro-Obama super PAC collects $2 million

Priorities USA Action, a super PAC raising unlimited money to aid President Obama's campaign, collected $2 million in February, following Obama's reversal last month of his opposition to outside groups. Half of the money came from television host Bill Maher.

The February haul is a big jump from the nearly $59,000 the group collected in January, but it demonstrates that fundraising by Democratic-aligned outside groups still lags behind that of Republican super PACs. Two groups affiliated with Republican strategist Karl Rove collected $51 million last year, compared to about $6.1 million raised by Priorities USA Action and its non-profit arm in 2011.

"February was obviously a much better month than we've had in a while," Bill Burton, a co-founder of Priorities USA Action, said in a statement. "But Democrats who want the president to win re-election are going to have to ramp up the numbers in order to stay competitive with the avalanche of Republican money coming at him."

At a Georgetown fundraiser this week, Vice President Biden estimated Republican groups would raise between $200 million and $800 million. "The truth of the matter is we can't match it," he said.

Super PACs and presidential candidates must report their February finances to the Federal Election Commission by midnight March 20.