Campaigns Raise, Burn More Cash, More Quickly

Republican presidential hopeful, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaks to potential supporters during a meeting with local residents, Friday, July 13, 2007, in Algona, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) (Charlie Neibergall - AP)

Obama registered nearly $2 million in expenses for travel, including more than $700,000 for charter flights. He spent $373,141 for private security guards, including payments made after he was afforded Secret Service protection. He spent more than $500,000 on polling, with payments spread among four polling firms.

Running with a low balance represents a new approach to seeking the White House. At this stage in 2003, most Democratic contenders were socking away funds, operating on about one-third of the money they raised. In 1999, candidates were burning even less of their resources at this stage of the campaign.

One major change to the political landscape is a revamped and more front-loaded campaign calendar. Competitors for their parties' nomination will for the first time spend January waging primary and caucus battles in more than just Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Now Nevada and Wyoming are in the mix, Florida looms on Jan. 29, and the ultimate primary event comes on Feb. 5, when more than a dozen states, including California, New York and New Jersey, will hold primaries.

Lesser-known candidates have also had to compete with the likes of Clinton and Giuliani, candidates with near-universal name recognition.

For Romney, at least, the costly effort to get his message out seems to have paid off, said Craig Fuller, an adviser to President George H.W. Bush who is helping Romney raise money. Romney has spent nearly $5 million on television ads at a time when few others are venturing onto the airwaves, and he has risen to the top of many polls in Iowa and News Hampshire.

Romney has the added advantage of being able to dip into his personal fortune -- estimated to be in the hundreds of millions -- to supplement his fundraising, and had lent more than $9 million to his campaign by the end of June.

"The strategy of building his name recognition in the early states through advertising, I think, has paid off for him," Fuller said.

"I think he's established that he's a front-running candidate, and that was a crucial first step for him."

There remains disagreement among candidates as to how much money it will take to make it to the Iowa caucuses.

Edwards, who finished the quarter with $13.3 million in cash, said he is on track to hit his target of raising $40 million by the end of the year.

Aides for Dodd, who has $6.3 million on hand, had a slightly lower projection. "We've said all along that we need $20 million to $25 million to wage a successful campaign, and we are well on track toward meeting that goal," said Colleen Flanagan, a campaign spokesman.

"We're exactly where we need to be -- structurally and financially."

Crawford, the Vilsack adviser who helped the former governor crunch numbers as he struggled to keep pace, has a different take. "I don't see how you can make it to Iowa with less than $30 million," he said. "I think that's a floor, an absolute floor."

Research director Lucy Shackelford and staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.