Energized Romney Plans to Resume TV Ads

Hoping to capitalize on his fundraising success, Republican Mitt Romney planned to resume television advertising on Wednesday in early voting Iowa and New Hampshire.

The ad, following up on a round Romney aired immediately after announcing his candidacy in mid-February, targets fiscal conservatives by focusing on his pledge to cap discretionary federal spending other than that dedicated to the U.S. military.

Romney estimates that would save $300 billion over 10 years.

The ad also distinguishes the former Massachusetts governor from his fellow Republican, President Bush, who has only vetoed one bill after more than six years in office. Romney pledges to veto any budget that exceeds his proposed cap.

"I know how to veto. I like vetoes. I've vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor," Romney says in the ad. "And frankly, I can't wait to get my hands on Washington."

Spokesman Kevin Madden said the ad will run statewide in both states, but would not provide the specific amount spent on the ad.

While Romney routinely vetoed bills during his four years as governor, those vetoes were almost always overridden by the heavily Democratic Legislature.

Romney announced Monday that he had raised $23 million for his campaign during the first three months of the year, besting the rest of the Republican field and rivaling the $26 million in first-quarter fundraising announced over the weekend by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.

While Romney's campaign has spent just more than half of that money, it still had about $11.3 million cash on hand as of March 31.

The new ad will use up some of that reserve, but Romney is planning additional fundraisers this week in Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis to help replenish the funds. He spent about $2 million on his first series of ads, designed to introduce the relative political newcomer to a national audience.

The first ads ran in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida and Michigan.


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he's not daunted by having raised only a little more than $500,000 for his presidential exploratory committee in the first three months of the year.

"You don't get spooked in the early steps of the race," Huckabee said in an interview broadcast by Little Rock radio station KARN. The Republican likened the race to a marathon - Huckabee has run in four of them - and said he is pacing himself for a long run.

Huckabee left office in January and formed an exploratory committee for the Republican presidential nomination. He had roughly $300,000 in cash on hand at the end of the reporting period, Huckabee campaign manager Chip Saltsman said.

Saltsman said Huckabee's goal was to raise $500,000 in the first three months of the year.

"We hit the goal we had," Huckabee said. "Our position is that it is better to finish strong than start strong."

Huckabee conceded that he will need more money.

"We'll have to raise millions to be competitive," Huckabee said.

The funding gap is tremendous between Huckabee and more prominent GOP presidential contenders, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Romney raised $23 million, while Giuliani reported raising $15 million. Arizona Sen. John McCain, another Republican presidential hopeful, reported raising $12.5 million.

"You've got to remember we just started this campaign six weeks ago," Saltsman said. "You've got some of these guys who have been running for president for six years."

Huckabee said he expects his fortunes to improve when GOP primary voters hear his conservative message.

Romney excels, McCain lags in fundraising

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Republican Mitt Romney reported Monday 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.

McCain, at one point considered the Republican to beat, acknowledged he had "hoped to do better" in the first quarter of the year, although his campaign manager, Terry Nelson, said in a statement: "Fundraising in the first quarter is no more important than fundraising throughout the entire primary election campaign."

The figures released can include contributions, transfers from other campaign accounts and loans. (Compare contributions)

Meanwhile, the current leader in Republican presidential surveys, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said his donations totaled $15 million -- including more than $10 million raised during March alone. (Watch Terry Jeffrey and James Carville analyze campaign cash )

Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a conservative darling but longshot GOP candidate, lagged far behind, reporting receipts of less than $2 million, including a $575,000 transfer from his Senate campaign account.

On their own, the Romney, Giuliani and McCain totals blew away past party presidential fundraising standards, but Romney's figure put the former Massachusetts governor in competition with Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner. The New York senator on Sunday reported raising $26 million between January 1 and March 31.

Clinton refused to reveal how much of that was for a potential general election campaign -- raising the prospect that she and Romney may have raised virtually the same for their respective primary races.

All of the money the former Massachusetts governor raised was for the GOP primary.

"Facing opponents in an extremely competitive fundraising field who enjoy universal name identification and the clear advantage of existing networks of contributors, Governor Romney's fundraising totals are indicative of the extraordinary success the campaign has had at building an organization and stirring excitement among grassroots activists responding to his message," said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden.

Romney was a venture capitalist whose only public service experience was running the 2002 Winter Olympics before he was elected to a single term as governor later that year.

Giuliani, who conversely had moved from politics to private business in recent years, said he has raised nearly $17 million since he formed his presidential exploratory committee in November. He also had $11 million cash on hand as of Saturday, the end of the first quarter.

In a statement, Mike DuHaime, Giuliani's campaign manager, said the campaign was thrilled with the total, despite what he called a "late start" to fundraising. The ex-mayor held his first major fundraiser in New York in December. Other top rivals didn't do so until January or later.

McCain's campaign released its fundraising totals while the senator was on a fact-finding mission in Iraq.

McCain tried to lower expectation last week, saying he didn't like to raise money, had gotten off to a late start and was "going to pay a price for it."

Republicans in Washington have privately said that McCain's rate of spending has been alarming, even as Giuliani has opened a wide lead in national popularity polls.

Only $48,000 of the money McCain raised was for a potential general election race, while all but $100,000 of the money Giuliani raised was for a primary campaign.

In the Democratic race, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has yet to release his total, touching off speculation of an announcement equivalent to the figure reported by Clinton.

Obama yet to release figures
Among the other Democratic candidates, aides to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said his $14 million in new contributions included $1 million for the general election.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said he had raised $6 million and had more than $5 million cash on hand.

Aides to Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said he raised more than $4 million and transferred nearly $5 million from his Senate campaign, for a total of $9 million in receipts and $7.5 million cash on hand. Delaware Sen. Joe Biden lagged behind, with his staff reporting that he had total receipts of nearly $4 million, nearly half of which was transferred from his Senate campaign account.

Romney's total included an unexpected asterisk: a $2.35 million loan from the candidate himself. In January, the Republican stunned the field by raising $6.5 million on a single day in which he invited his supporters to Boston and asked them to call their professional and social circles for donations.

At that time, the millionaire venture capitalist said "it would be akin to a nightmare" if he donated to his campaign, although he reserved that right. On Monday, a senior adviser said Romney ended up loaning the funds as "seed money" for his campaign. The adviser said Romney had done so before making his "nightmare" comment.

The prior records for first-quarter fundraising were held by Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee. Gramm raised $8.7 million in 1995, while Gore raised $8.9 million in 1999. Gramm dropped out race before New Hampshire's 1996 primary, while Gore went on to win the 2000 Democratic nomination.