Vuelve la batalla de los dólares

Se acerca la fecha tope del tercer trimestre del año y la atención de las campañas vuelve a trasladarse esta semana a la recaudación de fondos, con tosas las miradas puestas en Perry y Romney por ver quién ganará la batalla de los dólares para poner en claro quién es el front-runner.

The Washington Post:

Perry and Romney are accelerating their efforts to woo new contributors this week before the Sept. 30 quarterly filing deadline. Perry will be raising funds in Washington and several mid-Atlantic states; Romney will be in New York and Boston — targeting the huge pool of traditional Republican donors who have remained stubbornly uncommitted thus far.

The two are hoping to post totals that signal strength and momentum heading into a fall campaign sprint that will be both consequential and costly. Perry’s backers have pegged his target at $10 million to $15 million, although his success will be judged in part by how much he raises outside Texas, where he is governor. Romney, meanwhile, is expected to post a similarly substantial sum, but aides cautioned that he was unlikely to surpass the $18 million he reported for the last quarter.

(...) After a meteoric rise in the national polls, Perry finds himself suddenly humbled after a series of debate matchups against the more practiced Romney and an aggressive slate of candidates trying to break into the top tier.

On Saturday came more disappointing news, as Perry finished second to Cain, 37 percent to 15 percent, in the Florida straw poll — a contest that Perry had said was important and in which his campaign had invested many resources. Romney came in a close third, taking 14 percent of the more than 2,600 votes cast.

A Romney adviser said that Perry’s uneven performance Thursday night in Orlando had pushed some big-name donors who had been open to his candidacy toward the Romney fold.

“People watch the debates and call up and go, ‘Golly, I really want to help,’ ” said Brian Ballard, Romney’s Florida finance co-chairman. “We’re getting more people, and they’re writing bigger checks.”

Yet it seems a number of the top Republican benefactors are content to remain on the sidelines at least a little longer.

“It’s about 50-50 — 50 percent have made commitments, 50 percent are waiting,” said Fred Malek, a prominent fundraiser who is uncommitted. “There’s not a good reason to get off the fence at this point. There’s plenty of time to commit.”