(Joel Page/Reuters)
So far, we mostly only have press accounts to go by, as few Republican presidential candidates have actually filed their paperwork for the second quarter with the FEC. (That's due today.) But what we do know is that the entire GOP field
combined doesn't match President Obama's fundraising total for Q2:
Bachmann, Michele: $4,000,000
Cain, Herman: $2,460,000
Gingrich, Newt: $2,000,000
Huntsman, Jon: $4,100,000
Johnson, Gary: $180,237
Paul, Ron: $4,500,000
Pawlenty, Tim: $4,500,000
Romney, Mitt: $18,250,000
Santorum, Rick: $582,348
That adds up to about $40 million, give or take. The total haul isn't even quite that good, though, because it includes a $2 million donation from Jon Huntsman to himself, and another $2 million transfer from Michele Bachmann's congressional committee to her presidential committee. (That is, the money was raised prior to this quarter.) Meanwhile, Obama pulled in $47 million on his own, plus another $38 million for the DNC. By way of comparison, Obama raised $33 million in the second quarter of 2007, almost double what Mitt Romney pulled in this time.
As entertaining as it is to peruse these feeble hauls (the cash-on-hand numbers are even more pathetic), we can't get cocky. This is going to be a tough re-election campaign no matter what. But at least on the money front, where we are so often outgunned, we should be in good shape.