Record Cash Shakes Up Presidential Field

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a breakfast with local residents, Thursday, March 29, 2007, during a campaign stop in Bluffton, S.C. Romney reported Monday April 2, 2007 he had raised $23 million for his presidential campaign during the first three months of the year, shaking up the GOP field. Sen. John McCain of Arizona lagged with $12.5 million raised. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton) (Stephen Morton - AP)

Complicating the picture is how little is known about the candidates' financial status beyond their net fundraising totals. The campaigns have nearly two weeks to disclose how much money they've spent, how much they have in the bank and some details about where their donations came from.

Romney wasn't waiting to crow.

"I've gotten a very positive response" from coveted fundraisers from President Bush's past campaigns, he said.

Romney tapped extensive contacts from his work as a venture capitalist, past chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association and longtime involvement in the Mormon church. A spokesman said he has already spent half of his $23 million, including nearly $2 million on advertising in early states. He plans to resume ads in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Romney joked about his big haul, referring to the fact that President Clinton often had donors sleep at the White House. How many Lincoln Bedroom sleepovers did his donors earn? "There are not enough Lincoln Bedrooms, I'm afraid, for the _ what did we calculate? _ 32,000 or 33,000 people" who donated to his campaign, Romney quipped.

McCain, who lost to Bush in the 2000 GOP race and spent seven years building a national political operation, raised a massively disappointing $12.5 million. He ordered aides to overhaul the campaign's fundraising shop, putting former Texas Rep. Tom Loeffler in charge.

The news broke as McCain put his straight-talk motto to the test in Iraq. The Arizona senator, a supporter of President Bush's unpopular troop escalation plan, toured a Baghdad market under heavy guard and declared himself "cautiously optimistic." Iraqis in the devastated city said his rosy account of the visit did not represent the current reality in the capital.

Obama and Clinton turned their attention to Iraq, too, blasting Bush for pledging anew to veto a Democratic measure setting a timetable for troop withdrawals.

"This is vetoing the will of the American people," Clinton said in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. "It is time for us to get them out of the middle of this sectarian civil war."

Obama was the last top tier candidate in either party to release fundraising figures. At a VFW hall in Rochester, N.H., he was confronted by an audience member who said, "I don't want money to pick my next president. I want to pick my president."

Obama said his report will show that his campaign has had more individual donors than any other. He reiterated his support for public financing of campaigns.

Lesser-known candidates with smaller warchests argued that there was still plenty of time to gain ground.

"You don't get spooked in the early steps of the race," said former Gov. Mike Huckabee, a GOP candidate from Arkansas.

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Beverly Wang and Holly Ramer in New Hampshire, Andre DeMillo in Arkansas and Mike Glover and Liz Sidoti in Iowa contributed to this report.