Most of us recall the 2008 election, when Barack Obama busted the limits of fundraising and spending — and became the first presidential candidate since Watergate to opt out of the public system. He raised over $770 million and swamped out Republican nominee John McCain, hitting a record for fundraising in a single month in September 2008 with $150 million.

Well, most of us remember that pretty well.  Obama, on the other hand, whined about being outspent in both the 2004 Senate race and the 2008 presidential contest:

“I got outspent when I ran [the] first time for Senate,” he claimed as he was ending his heated campaign-trail speech in Maumee, Ohio.

Obama was misleading.

The Federal Election Committee’s website shows that Obama’s campaign claimed $14,807,432 in donations by December 2004.

In contrast, his opponent, Alan Keyes, had only $2,545,325, according to the FEC.

That’s a six-fold advantage for Obama, not a deficit.

And the Daily Caller also corrected Obama’s claim about 2008:

In a second speech June 5, Obama compounded his misleading claim by declaring that he was outspent in the 2008 presidential race.

“The thing that I want everybody here to understand – each of you personally — is that back in 2008, everybody said we couldn’t do it because we were outspent,” he said during a 4.12 p.m. speech in Sandusky, Ohio.

Obama did not correct the claim, although he immediately revised it, by adding that “we weren’t favored.”

During the 2008 race, Obama raised $779 million. His GOP rival, Sen. John McCain, raised less than half as much, or $347 million.

In the Democratic primary, Obama raised $237 million, while his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, raised $229 million.

At some point, most of us think that a man who raised that much cash has done enough whining.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!