Political races are often about early money. Who can jumpstart a campaign with a momentum of dollars that declare a candidate a front-runner, the one to be contended with?
Mitt Romney gathered nearly 400 of his supporters into the Boston Convention Center on Monday for a unique National Call Day that generated $6.5 million and put contenders on notice that this is a campaign with muscle and energy.
Senator John McCain and Rudy Guiliani raised less than $2 million at their initial fundraisers.
The 38,000 square-foot Boston Convention Center was dressed for a national pep rally. Flags from all 50 states festooned the callers and a four-screen projection TV system hung from the center of the hall with pictures including Romney in the Oval Office and at the Presidential lectern. At the heart were the array of volunteers at 42 fundraising stations — each with a supervisor and nine volunteers.
The callers were a star-studded group including eBay President Meg Whitman, former Massachusetts Governor William F. Weld, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, and Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.), who plumbed their own personal lists and their network of friends to ask for donations. Romney campaign spokesman Kevin Madden told The Boston Globe, "While you see every one person here at the phone, what's behind them... [are] legions of other people and other supporters that they've worked with." .
Spencer Zwick, Romney's national finance director, told the Boston Channel, ABC’s online news source, that “the novel approach was aimed at avoiding cold calls and instead tapping networks through executive Rolodexes or personal Christmas card lists.
"We do know in political fundraising, money talks but early money screams," he said. Governor Romney made the first call of the day to his oldest sister, Lynn, who lives outside Detroit. She said, “This is an exciting day, isn’t it?” as she pledged $2,100, the maximum allowable contribution.
The volunteers hailed from more than 40 states and used 320 laptop computers to send messages like these to their friends: “I wish I could describe to you the energy and electricity in the room right now with a literal Who's Who list from across America manning the phones and calling their friends and associates to contribute today. Those who were involved in the last two Bush/Cheney campaigns have told us that the kind of support Mitt is getting is unprecedented. “I would like to personally invite you to be among the very first to make a contribution to Governor Romney's presidential campaign.”
Hugh Hewitt, who is a Romney fan, noted, “There is a dynamic in politics that always sees money follow momentum. Don't be surprised if the early money breaks to Romney as smart money likes to be with the eventual nominee early, and also to be part of the team from its first days. This is what distinguished George W. Bush's campaign in 1999-2000.”
The top priority for any candidate is to raise big dollars for what is estimated could be the first $1 billion presidential campaign.
The resounding success of the day "is a message," said Governor Romney, "that what we stand for and what we are going to fight for has been heard, and gives us motivation to go forward with our message."
Money was only part of the momentum of Romney’s first days since he formed his presidential exploratory committee. Opinion Journal is currently running an online unscientific poll that asks, “Who would be the strongest candidate for Republicans in the 2008 presidential election. Here are early results:
