By GLEN JOHNSON
The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 3, 2007; 10:12 PM
DERRY, N.H. -- Awash in record-breaking cash, the 2008 presidential race entered an important new phase Tuesday as rattled front-runners and hard-charging challengers reassessed their strategies and standing in a reshuffled field.
Aides to Democratic Sen. Barack Obama were still tallying receipts but said he would report at least $20 million raised since Jan. 1. Fear swept the once-confident campaign of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Obama could top her $26 million haul and strip her of the front-runner's mantle.
A top Clinton fundraiser took a jab at the rival. Obama "doesn't have the sustainability and doesn't have the ability to raise what the Clintons are able to raise," said John Catsimatidis. "Regardless of what he reports, at the end of the day, the Clintons get the nomination."
But only one Clinton can get nominated _ and only if she stays atop a crowded Democratic field. Her husband, former President Clinton, threw his considerable might behind her desperate drive for cash before Saturday's reporting deadline.
On the Republican side, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney laid claim to GOP bragging rights by declaring that his $23 million fundraising total so far this year is "the best indicator of future success," and vowed to maintain his staggering pace. A larger-than-usual press corps trailed him in New Hampshire, including a crew from the CBS news show "60 Minutes."
Sen. John McCain, the former front-runner, who traveled to Iraq and Pakistan this week, ordered an overhaul of his fundraising shop. More changes could be in store for the Arizona senator's campaign, party leaders said. His aides said he was putting off his formal campaign announcment that had been planned for next week. Instead, they said he would give a speech about Iraq.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who surged ahead of McCain in GOP polling several weeks ago, said he's satisfied with a $15 million fundraising total, including $10 million raised in March alone.
Still, he bowed to Romney.
"Congratulations, Mitt," Giuliani said, "I mean that." Asked whether he could keep up his pace, the former mayor glanced to the sky and said he can only pray. "I hope so."
Less than a year before the first votes are cast in the nomination fights, the fundraising totals created two fields in transition _ with no clear front-runners.
In the GOP race, Romney leads in money, Giuliani in polls and McCain, arguably, in organizational strength.
On the Democratic side, Clinton leads in polls and has the best traditional infrastructure, but both Obama and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina could argue success in Internet-based grassroots efforts.
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.