Contenders Prep For First Big Reveal Of Cash Support

WASHINGTON — Presidential campaigns are revving up last-minute fund-raising to scoop up as much cash as possible for their first financial reports — an early test of who's got momentum for 2008.

Saturday midnight is the cutoff for the reporting period, and candidates have until April 15 to file to the Federal Election Commission. But they are already preparing to show the figures in the most positive light possible.

Among Democrats, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is the acknowledged leader with predictions that she will top the $25 million mark for the quarter.

In a push to boost her total this week, she enlisted her most prolific fund-raiser, her husband.

"I know Hillary will be the best president," former President Bill Clinton says in a video posted prominently on her campaign Web site.

The former president asks the viewer that "if you agree" with him, send a contribution and "please, do it by the March 31st deadline."

Since no other campaign is expected to best the Clinton dollar totals, Sen. Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, has focused on a statistic that's more favorable to his cause — the number of individuals who have donated to him.

With the first quarter deadline looming, "the press and pundits start to obsess over the chase for money," Obama wrote in an e-mail to potential donors. He has set a goal of 75,000 donors, an extraordinary number that stems from his broad appeal on the Internet. By Thursday, his Web site reported he was only a couple of thousand contributors from that goal.

Despite Obama's disclaimers about dollar totals, he is expected to report a hefty total in the early going.

John Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, shocked fellow Democratic contenders four years ago by unveiling a $7.4 million first quarter. This year, Edwards' campaign is trying to tamp down expectations. Spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield said the goal was "to exceed our fundraising total from the last time."

However, anything under $12 million might raise questions about the viability of candidates in the 2008 race. With California and many other states moving their primaries to the first two months of the year, campaigns will need to have historic amounts of cash on hand by the end of this year to compete.

"I expect multiple presidential candidates to raise $30 million or more by the end of March, which should put them on track to raise $100 million by the end of 2007," said Michael Toner, a former chairman of the Federal Election Commission.

Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, said he doesn't expect any contenders to drop out as a result of falling behind on fundraising. But he said the money totals are the first "hard" numbers in a race that so far has been defined by polls and speculation.

"You either have raised the money, or you haven't," Sabato said, adding that a low-profile candidate such as New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served two Cabinet posts in the Clinton administration, might grab more attention "if he raised $10-15 million."

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., also could raise some eyebrows with an unexpectedly high fund-raising total, thanks in part to his role as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee. Others, such as Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, could fall far short.

On the Republican side of the presidential contest, one-time front-runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona has already tried to soften potentially negative headlines by announcing a week ago that he won't meet first quarter expectations — which had gone as high as $30 million.

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, now leading in the polls, is expected to beat McCain in the money chase, too.

Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and highly successful businessman, has already demonstrated his fund-raising prowess by raising more than $7 million in a single evening.

Among other Republican contenders, Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, is being watched with some curiosity. An unexpectedly high fund raising total could boost his visibility.

Also raising money — but not yet for a presidential campaign — is former House Speaker Gingrich of Georgia. IRS reports show Gingrich has helped raise $2.2 million for his new bipartisan policy group, American Solutions for Winning the Future.

Gingrich has said he will make a decision about the presidential race in September.