President Obama prominently denounced the Citizens United decision during his 2010 State of the Union speech, but his campaign now supports a Super PAC.

The manager of President Obama’s re-election effort is defending the campaign’s decision to back a so-called super PAC, despite the president’s fierce criticism of the Supreme Court decision which led to the proliferation of such shadowy influence groups.

The Obama campaign is supporting Priorities USA, a super PAC founded by two former Obama White House aides, says Jim Messina in an email to supporters sent late Monday night.

“We decided to do this because we can’t afford for the work you’re doing in your communities, and the grassroots donations you give to support it, to be destroyed by hundreds of millions of dollars in negative ads,” Messina tells supporters.

During his 2010 State of the Union address, Obama famously denounced the ruling, Citizens United, which swept away decades of campaign-finance regulation and paved the way for today’s multitude of super PACs, many backing Republican candidates and causes.

Messina acknowledges the support for a super PAC is “a real risk.”

“In 2011, the Super PAC supporting Mitt Romney raised $30 million from fewer than 200 contributors. Ninety-six percent of what they’ve spent so far, more than $18 million, has been on attack ads. The main engine of Romney’s campaign has an average contribution of roughly $150,000,” he says. ” … The stakes are too important to play by two different sets of rules. If we fail to act, we concede this election to a small group of powerful people intent on removing the President at any cost.”

A recent Washington Post report finds that conservative-powered super PACs could make the eventual GOP nominee much more competitive against Obama in November.

Messina, however, also seeks to temper the influence of super PACs with the small-dollar donors backing Obama’s re-election bid.

“That’s why it’s up to us — the grassroots organization — to win this election where we have the real advantage, and that’s on the ground,” he says. “More than 1.3 million Americans have already donated. Our average donation is $55, and 98 percent are $250 or less.”

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

With Republican Mitt Romney’s landslide win in the Florida presidential primary powered by a massive number of negative ads, President Obama’s 2012 campaign staff have begun worrying about the eventual influence of so-called Super PACs in the November election.

And the folks back in Obama’s Chicago campaign headquarters have reason for concern, according to a new report.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina fired off a fundraising appeal to supporters Wednesday specifically citing the influence of these largely unregulated organizations in Romney’s victory over GOP rival Newt Gingrich.

Messina notes that Romney and the groups supporting him outspent Gingrich and organizations on his side in the Sunshine State by $15.3 million to $3.4 million. Romney and influence groups loyal to him put 13,000 advertisements on the air on Romney’s behalf as of mid-week last week. Gingrich had only about 200, Messina says. Some 92 percent of these ads that were negative, he says.

“That’s ugly, and it tells us a lot about what to expect from Romney if he wins the Republican nomination. They’re going to try to spend and smear their way to the White House,” Messina says.

These Super PACs, which proliferated in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United ruling which struck down most campaign finance regulation, have narrowed the gap between what the president and his supporters can spend and what Republicans their backers can., according to a report published Wednesday by The Washington Post.

“The emerging pattern suggests that Obama may have an increasingly difficult time staying ahead of his competitors in the money race this year, particularly after Republicans coalesce around one candidate focused on winning the White House. That contender will almost certainly receive a surge of contributions from Republicans who want to beat Obama,” the Post says.

The Obama re-election campaign is ready to fight back, however, Messina says.

“These super PACs can dominate the airwaves, but what they can’t do is mobilize volunteers on the ground,” he says. “And that’s how we’re going to win.”

The Obama camp’s focus on the ground game could mean hiring a new field organizer, paying the rent for a field office, or putting together an online training for new volunteers, Messina’s email says.

“The Florida primary will be a turning point in this race — the other side is looking at what could be months of brutal, negative tactics that turn people off to politics altogether,” Messina says. “We’re spending that time building a campaign to win in November.”

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.

Senate Republicans may have tried this week to kill President Obama’s American Jobs Act, but the president refuses to let his $447 billion legislative package die quietly.

The president’s re-election campaign late Wednesday released an email to supporters that included a video message from Obama himself, in which he vowed to keep fighting.

The email, signed by campaign manager Jim Messina, notes that although the American Jobs Act failed to get the 60 votes in the Senate required to overcome a GOP filibuster, the legislation would have been approved absent that filibuster.

Messina also cites opinion polling that finds 63 percent of Americans support Obama’s plan to create nearly 2 million jobs.

In his video, Obama notes that Republican senators unanimously blocked the American Jobs Act, despite the fact that includes provisions — such as tax cuts — which had won have GOP support in the past.

Many in Washington might be tempted to declare the American Jobs Act dead, given Republican obstruction, Obama says, but not him.

“I will not take no for an answer. Not this time,” the president says. “Not with so many Americans out of work. Not with so many families struggling to get ahead.”

Obama says he plans to separate the jobs bill into its individual components, and force Republicans take potentially politically embarrassing votes if they want to defeat them.

“They’ll have a chance to vote on whether we should keep teachers out of work, or put them back into the classroom where they belong,” he says. “They’ll get to vote on whether they believe construction workers should stay unemployed while our roads and bridges fall apart.”

Obama asks his supporters to keep the pressure on lawmakers as he and Senate Democrats push this new strategy.

“Only you can make them do their jobs,” the president tells supporters.

WATCH PRESIDENT OBAMA’S VIDEO HERE:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Scott Nance is the editor and publisher of the news site The Washington Current. He has covered Congress and the federal government for more than a decade.