Show Me the Money--Campaign Funds Raised So Far

Washington, DC (TLS). The Liberty Sphere has reported many times that each candidate for President will need a campaign war-chest of at least 100 million dollars by January 1, 2008 in order to mount a competitive campaign.

Let's see who has the most money thus far, in order of their rank in total funds raised:

Over 20 Million, but under 30 Million
--Hillary Rodham Clinton
--Barack Hussein Obama
--Mitt Romney

Over 10 million, but under 20 million
--Rudy Giuliani
--John Edwards
--John McCain

Over 5 million, but under 10 million
--Bill Richardson

Under 5 million
--Chris Dodd
--Joe Biden
--Sam Brownback
--Tom Tancredo
--Ron Paul
--Mike Huckabee
--Duncan Hunter
--Dennis Kucinich
--Tommy Thompson
--Jim Gilmore
--Mike Gravel

As you can see by these official rankings, the three candidates who are well on their way to raising the necessary funds by Jan. 1 are Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Hussein Obama, and Mitt Romney. Those who are lagging a bit behind but are still easily within reach are Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards, and John McCain.

It is our opinion that anyone who at this point has less than 10 million dollars on hand in campaign cash is going to have a very tough time raising the amount needed by that all-important deadline.

For example, in order for Bill Richardson to have 100 million by Jan. 1 he will have to raise at least 14 million bucks PER MONTH between now and Dec. 31, 2007. That is roughly twice as much per month as the TOTAL he has raised thus far.

By anyone's estimation that is an exceedingly tall order.

This is why with each passing day I am growing more and more pessimistic about the prospects of a viable candidacy out of anyone who has raised less than 5 million by now. This bodes ill for candidates such as Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul, and Mike Huckabee, I am sorry to say.

Yet this is not an entirely impossible scenario. If a dark horse candidate catches on with a large segment of the electorate, the campaign cash will come rolling in in fairly short order.

But the time is growing short. We can thank the almighty intellects at the helm of both Parties for this sorry state of affairs. Jan. 1 is way too early to start primaries. But the Parties all moved up their primary dates in the name of attempting to be 'the very first one.'

As much as I hate the scenario they have created with primaries taking place as early as January, this is the reality we must face. And reality dictates that in this election cycle a candidate is going to need 100 million by January 1 in order to be competitive in those early primaries.