Total campaign funds don't tell whole story
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 4, 2007
DERRY, N.H. - Awash in record-breaking cash, the 2008 presidential race entered an important new phase Tuesday as candidates reassessed their strategies and standing in a reshuffled field.
Aides to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois were still tallying receipts but said he would report at least $20-million raised since Jan. 1. Fear swept the once-confident campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: Obama could top her $26-million haul and strip her of the front-runner's mantle.
A top Clinton fundraiser took a jab at the rival. Obama "doesn't have the sustainability and doesn't have the ability to raise what the Clintons are able to raise," John Catsimatidis said. Sen. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, threw his considerable might behind her drive for cash before Saturday's reporting deadline.
On the Republican side, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney laid claim to GOP bragging rights by declaring that his $23-million fundraising total so far this year is "the best indicator of future success" and vowed to maintain his pace.
Romney's total included a $2.35-million loan from the candidate to his campaign.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona ordered an overhaul of his fundraising shop, after he came in third among Republicans with $12.5-million. More changes could be in store for the senator's campaign, party leaders said.
His aides said he was putting off his formal campaign announcement that had been planned for next week. Instead, they said he would give a speech about Iraq.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who surged ahead of McCain in GOP polling several weeks ago, said he's satisfied with a $15-million fundraising total, including $10-million raised in March alone.
Still, Giuliani bowed to Romney.
"Congratulations, Mitt," Giuliani said, "I mean that." Asked whether he could keep up his pace, the former mayor glanced to the sky and said he can only pray. "I hope so."
Less than a year before the first votes are cast in the nomination fights, the fundraising totals created two fields in transition - with no clear front-runners.
In the GOP race, Romney leads in money, Giuliani in polls and McCain, arguably, in organizational strength.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads in polls and has the best traditional infrastructure, but both Obama and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina could argue success in Internet-based grass roots efforts. Edwards reported raising $14-million.
Complicating the picture is how little is known about the candidates' financial status beyond their net fundraising totals. The campaigns have nearly two weeks to disclose how much money they've spent, how much they have in the bank and some details about where their donations came from.