By Gary P Jackson
CNN is reporting liberal Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million. A respectable number, for sure, but a whopping $31.75 million short of his fundraising goal.
CNN) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign said Wednesday it raised $18.25 million in the past three months, putting the former Massachusetts governor far ahead of his GOP rivals in the battle for campaign cash.
Romney's campaign also reported that as of July 1 they have $12.6 million in the bank, and that all the money raised in this year's second quarter is for the primaries rather than the general election. The campaign added that funds were raised in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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Romney's figures put him far ahead of his rivals who have reported their second quarter numbers. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who's making his third bid for the White House, reported raising $4.5 million. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty reported bringing in $4.2 million, with former Utah Gov. and former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman raising $4.1 million. Huntsman didn't announce his candidacy until June 21, late in the second quarter. Nearly half of haul was a donation of his own money. Former Godfather's Pizza CEO and radio talk show host Herman Cain reported raising $2.46 million, which also included some self funding.
Michele Bachmann has not released her numbers yet.
In March Jonathan Weisman wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
About 100 fund-raisers gathered at Manhattan’s venerated Harvard Club this morning to hear former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lay out his ambition: Raise $50 million fast.
One Romney fundraiser said the $50 million figure was what the governor wanted to show by early summer, at the time of the first financial filing deadline of what is likely to be his official presidential campaign.
Ian Lazaran was spot on when he wrote on July 3: The Media Should Be Really Upset that Mitt "Peacetime" Romney Misled Them About His Fundraising.
Romney raised a lot of money in 2008, and also threw in tens of millions from his own vast fortune. He finished third in a very pathetic field of candidates. The 2012 field is nowhere near set, and while it's giving the 2008 version a run for it's money in the suckage department, there's at least one strong candidate waiting for the right time to announce.
Money alone can't win a political contest, at least not at this time. Often these things are all about packaging, image, and style over substance. Romney is the presidential candidate right out of central casting. He has "presidential hair" for goodness sake! He LOOKS the part. Thankfully, this election will be about ideas. It will be about performance. It will be about the actual records of every candidate involved.
The winner will be someone with a lifelong record of success, not at just winning elections, but at serving the people and bringing about positive results. This is a bad time for guys like Mitt Romney whose record in office is marked by one failure after another.
There's a lot of things one can point to as the culprit of Romney's poor fundraising performance, but in the end, it boils down to the fact people know who he is, know his record, and simply are not impressed.
The 2012 election, both the primaries, and the general, are going to be like nothing we have ever seen. People are fed up with business as usual, from both parties. Money won't buy this election. Ideas will. Past record of accomplishments will. The ability to walk the walk will. Being a person who never waivers on their convictions will. That puts Mitt Romney in a very poor position. A very poor position, indeed.
