Giuliani Fundraising Start

Campaign Cash: Romney, Giuliani
By David D. Kirkpatrick
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani of New York announced this morning that they had raised eye-popping sums in the first quarter of the Republican presidential primary race — more than $20 million for Mr. Romney and $15 million for Mr. Giuliani.
Their announcements make clear that enough money is already flooding into the 2008 presidential election to make it by far the most expensive race in history. For the first time since the Watergate-era adoption of presidential public financing, all the leading candidates are taking steps to rely solely on private donors, raising and spending as much as they can without limit.
The two Republicans’ tallies follow announcements by Democrats just a day before. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign said it raised $26 million. Former Senator John Edwards’s campaign said it raised more than $14 million. Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico raised $6 million. Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut raised $4 million. Senator Joe Biden of Delaware raised $3 million.
Still silent on the subject are two top contenders: Senator Barack Obama of Illinois among the Democrats, and Senator John McCain of Arizona among the Republicans. In the political stagecraft of such announcements, waiting may be a sign that they hope to maximize attention for stronger than expected results rather then getting lumped into a parade of first quarter numbers.In truth, the precise sum each top candidate raises is unlikely to decide the nominations. All will have enough to compete for attention.
But the parade of big numbers from Mr. Romney and others may diminish the sense of an unstoppable advantage that Mrs. Clinton’s campaign had hoped to create with her record-breaking $26 million.
Mr. Romney, who made a fortune in finance and consulting, is not far behind her even without her advantages: greater national name recognition, a network of donors she inherited from her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and his personal help on the fundraising circuit.
Taken together, the top four candidates who have announced fundraising results so far have brought in a total of $75 million in the first quarter— a number that not long ago might have been the total raised by all the candidates over the course of the primaries.