Santorum’s fundraising soars along with his poll numbers
Rick Santorum, former republican congressman from Pennsylvania, is met with questions from the press as he walks into Buffalo Wild Wings in Ames on Friday, Dec. 30. Santorum’s stop, which consisted of a Pinstripe Bowl game-watching party, was one of four campaign stops around Iowa on Friday, leading up to the 2012 Iowa caucuses, which will take place on Jan. 3rd.
January 2, 2012
Rick Santorum’s poll numbers aren’t the only thing on the rise. The former senator from Pennsylvania’s fundraising figures are also skyrocketing.
A senior Santorum adviser tells CNN the campaign raised more money in the last week than they raised on-line the past six months, adding that fundraising is between 300 percent and 400 percent higher on a daily basis than it was just ten days ago.
Of course, 10 days ago Santorum was still in the single digits in polls here in the Hawkeye State, which Tuesday kicks off the caucus and primary calendar. But a CNN/Time/ORC survey released last Wednesday indicated Santorum in third place among likely GOP caucus goers, sending shockwaves across the political world. Santorum’s dramatic rise was confirmed by an NBC News/Marist poll out Friday, and a Des Moines Register survey released Saturday night.
Santorum talked about his rising financial fortunes, at a campaign event Monday morning in Polk City.
“I would just stay this: We have raised more money in the last few days than we have in the last few months. And going from zero to 60 in the polls, if you will, will help those resources a lot,” said Santorum, in response to a question from the town’s mayor, asking if the candidate had the financial resources to take on President Barack Obama.
The campaign raised just over $700,000 in July through September, finishing with less than $190,000 cash on hand at the end of the third quarter, far behind many of Santorum’s rivals for the Republican nomination.
The infusion in funds has allowed the Santorum to go up with closing campaign commercials statewide here in Iowa, and TV spots are also up in New Hampshire, which holds the second contest, one week after the caucuses. And the campaign is making ad buys in South Carolina. The Palmetto State’s Jan. 21 primary is the third contest in the race for the GOP nomination.
