October 04, 2007
GOP 3Q Tallies Come Trickling In
Almost exactly one hour after Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney boasted $10 million in primary contributions for the third quarter -- the largest announced sum of any GOP contender as of about noon today -- front-runner Rudy Giuliani finally came out with his own 3Q tally of $10.5 million, giving him the most cash on hand of all his primary opponents.
Sound familiar? The other side's front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, similarly tried to take the wind out of her closest rivals' sails earlier this week when she waited to announce her $22 million 3Q take after the media had already rushed to crown Barack Obama the leader in Democratic dollars (he raised $19 million for the primary).
Giuliani's $500,000 leg-up on Romney isn't as impressive as Clinton's quarterly cash advantage over Obama, nor were his methods as smooth (was his press secretary waiting vigilantly by the computer for Romney to show his hand first?). But the Giuliani campaign is sure to use his second consecutive quarter of fundraising domination to foster the impression that the former New York City mayor is the GOP contender best equipped to face the Clinton juggernaut.
"We're receiving real support from across the country because voters know Rudy Giuliani is the only candidate who has proven leadership, executive experience and can beat the Democrats in November," Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime said in a press release.
Clinton currently leads the entire field of presidential contenders in third-quarter fundraising, with more dollars raised in the past three months than the two GOP leaders combined.
In total, the Romney camp is actually reporting more than $18 million in "receipts" during the past three months, but $8.5 million of that constitutes a loan Romney took out to finance his campaign. Like Obama, Romney stressed his "grassroots" outreach and support in announcing his fundraising totals.
Also quick on the trigger after Romney's announcement today was John McCain, who is reporting $6 million in contributions over the past three months. That sound you hear is a collective sigh of relief from McCain headquarters. The Arizona senator came this close to losing the quarter's money race to GOP underdog Ron Paul.
Posted at 2:35 PM
Posted to:
Campaigns, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republicans, Rudy Giuliani, WH 2008
Share via
