Romney banks 3-to-1 cash edge over closest rival

[July 16, 2011]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mitt Romney leads all Republicans in the contest for campaign cash, cementing his front-runner status among contenders hoping to go up against President Barack Obama in 2012.

While Romney's $12.7 million in the bank far outdistanced a spread-out GOP field, dollars don't always translate to votes. The chasm between Romney and his rivals suggested many Republican donors are waiting on the sidelines, watching the topsy-turvy campaign foment and the candidates finally start to engage one another.

"It's a little unsettling that people have so underperformed expectations," said Dave Carney, an adviser to Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is weighing joining the race. "Clearly, there's some ... concern about either economics or about the candidates. I don't know the reason."

Romney, a ferocious fundraiser who spent weeks on the road collecting pledges and checks, added more than $18.4 million to his account during the April-to-June fundraising period. That sum outpaced his closest rival to announce numbers so far, Rep. Michele Bachmann, by a 3-to-1 margin in banked cash. Yet he still came up short for his campaign's internal $50 million goal for the first half of this year.

Unlike four years ago when he hoped to help his first presidential bid with $44.6 million from his own personal fortune, Romney so far has not opened his wallet to help his second White House bid.

Bachmann, a darling among tea partyers, said she would report $3.6 million in the bank, a blend of fundraising and a transfer from her congressional campaign fund. She brought in a total of $4.2 million since formally beginning her campaign in June, much of it available for the primary campaign.

A potent fundraiser, Bachmann relied on small donors to raise $13.5 million for her 2010 re-election campaign and recently brought on board veteran high-dollar fundraising consultants to help build a national operation.

Tim Pawlenty, the former two-term governor of Minnesota, raised just around $4 million during the April-to-June period and has about $1.4 million available for his primary contest and some $600,000 more available if he were to capture the nomination.

The reports also detailed problems for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose campaign was carrying more than $1 million in debt. The former Georgia lawmaker -- whose bid has struggled since 18 staff members, consultants and advisers resigned en masse -- raised $2.1 million for the quarter but spent $1.8 million. Gingrich listed about $322,000 in the bank.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who lost re-election in 2006, reported taking in $582,000, with less than $225,000 banked for the primaries.

The financial picture for the 2012 presidential nominating race slowly came into clearer focus with the reports. While money doesn't guarantee success, it does pay for crucial television ads, polling to measure whether a message is working and staff to run the mechanics of a national election.

The numbers are one of the first measures of the campaigns' early strength as they look to take on Obama's well-funded re-election bid. On Wednesday, Obama's team announced it had raised $86 million during the second quarter of the year for his campaign and the Democratic Party.

Georgia businessman Herman Cain brought in almost $2.6 million in the first weeks of his White House bid, but the talk show host and Godfathers Pizza CEO banked less than the $500,000 he loaned himself.

Rep. Ron Paul, the Texan with a die-hard following among the party's libertarian wing, reported $2.9 million in the bank and said he moved more than $1 million from his House campaign committee. He announced he would not seek another term.

Aides said former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has collected $4.1 million, but as much as half of that could be money he's put into the campaign himself.

Huntsman declared himself a candidate in June, but did not file his paperwork with the FEC until July. That means the first disclosures from the Huntsman camp will be on Oct. 15, when the July-through-September report is due.

On the sidelines, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said her political action committee reported raising about $1.7 million during the first six months of the year and spending almost as much, about $1.6 million. The 2008 vice presidential pick has flirted with a White House run and has said she plans to make a decision later this summer.

Should she run, Palin could not legally shift SarahPAC's $1.4 million in the bank into a presidential race.

[Associated Press; By PHILIP ELLIOTT]

Associated Press writers Beth Fouhy in New York, April Castro in Austin, Brian Bakst in Minneapolis, Shannon McCaffrey in Atlanta and Becky Bohrer in Juneau contributed to this report.

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