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LE MARS, Iowa -- The Newt Gingrich campaign claims to be in good financial health as 2011 draws to a close, raising an estimated $9 million between October and December.
A spokesman for the former House speaker said the campaign's finances had recovered somewhat from their summer doldrums, when Gingrich reported incurring about $1 million in debt.
“The campaign has money,” Gingrich Spokesman R.C. Hammond told the press bus trailing Gingrich’s on his second day of his Iowa "Jobs & Growth Bus Tour."
“The campaign, for the fourth quarter, has raised a similar amount of money to what John McCain raised in 2007 at the same point…it’s about $9 million dollars,” Hammond told reporters, adding that their average campaign donation is between $75 and $100.
Hammond stopped both Gingrich's bus and the press bus on the side of the highway to board the press bus to inform reporters about their fundraising prowess. Up until this point, the Gingrich campaign had been rather hushed on how much money they had raised, saying it was their “strategy.”
It provides some positive news for Gingrich on the same day a CNN/TIME poll was published, showing his standing sliding to fourth place among likely Iowa caucus-goers.
"Today’s CNN poll,” the Gingrich spokesman said, “shows Mitt Romney has a ceiling and he spent $13 million since ’07 in the state of Iowa, and he can't break it."
Hammond decided to release these numbers to the press tonight, as Gingrich was on a tele-town hall with Iowans, because of an “erroneous report” misstating the campaign’s fundraising.
The influx in donations for Gingrich corresponds with his surge in the polls in late November and early December; Hammond said funds started to pick up after the FOX debate in Ames, Iowa. He had raised a mere $800,000 for the third quarter (July through September).
On Oct. 25, Gingrich told reporters in New Hampshire that his campaign had already raised more money in October than they did in all of the third quarter.
Gingrich’s spokesman also said “the campaign has paid off some of the debt obligations occurred over the summer” and that they will have a positive balance of cash on hand when the quarter ends on Dec. 31. He did note, though, “Any good campaign three days before the Iowa caucus won’t have a lot” of cash on hand.
The campaign is only spending $500,000 on television ads in Iowa this week leading up to the caucus. While that is more than it has spent in previous weeks, it is significantly less than what Gingrich’s GOP rivals are spending.
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People are giving money to the campaign of a man who has a history of serious ethics issues (and I'm not talking about his marital ethics, either)? How does that go, again? Something about a fool, and his money . . . or, you can fool some of the people all of the time . . . ????
Ironic.
Right, and they wait until it is to late to let it be known? and how did they hide it from disclosure that all the candidates are subject to?
I will be checking this one.....
PS: psst, Newt, the good Dr raised 4.7 million in one day......
BS, the majority of it was probably a SuperPac injection by Sheldon Adelson yesterday.
Egilman,
What's the old saying, "A day late and a dollar short"? Think that might apply to the Newster!
More like a day short and a dollar late, but what the heck it's the Grinch! it's all good! ;-0)
First, I want to say that you all are the rudest, meanest, most unChristmasy people I have ever run across. I am a former follower of the Jewish faith and now a Christian, I am a former Democrat and now a Republican, I am a former lawyer now retired, I am a member of a Tea Party club, I am just an ordinary American, and I find you all very hateful and never want to meet any of you. Nevertheless I use my own name when I write these comments, which is more than any of you do, which makes you all cowardly and makes me a genuine person. Whatever you believe, I believe the opposite, simply because I want to. The same is true of you all. You want some untruths to be true so you believe them. Great. A real intellectual bunch. Read the Bible clear through please. It doesn't say what you thought it said. The Golden Rule is in there, all right. But you and each of you don't believe in the Golden Rule so why bother...reading it in theBible won't mean a thing to you. Kindness, charitable? You are neither of these. I am well educated, so you might expect me to use fancy language to describe you one and all, but the only word that comes to mind is"stinky". You couldn't grasp the educated words, I am afraid. Stinky will have to do.
This massive campaign funding boost is almost certainly from large organizational contributors donating, for example, through a Super PAC. And this illustrates one of the major issues that is plaguing our current government: our campaign finance system is failing American citizens. The current campaign finance system that the Republicans and Democrats have installed for themselves creates numerous problems. First, it allows a few large organizations to sway the outcome of primary and general elections by providing donations that allow one side to simply outspend the other side. On the other side of that coin, the system causes elected representatives to be beholden to the party itself and the few large organizational contributors of the candidate. As such, this causes elected representatives to focus only on the needs and desires of the party and those large organizations, as opposed to focusing on their constituents and the needs of the country as a whole. Further, the campaign finance system, coupled with the balloting rules that the parties have created for themselves, has resulted in the Republicans and Democrats gaining excessive power and maintaining that power for far too long while simultaneously effectively excluding any third party from ever becoming a legitimate option. This is precisely why we need systemic changes to correct the numerous deficiencies that have arisen or become apparent since our country was formed over 200 years ago. We need changes that will cause our elected representatives to actually represent the American people by focusing on their needs as opposed to the needs of a few large organizations.
I encourage everyone to check out the American Overhaul Act at www.americanoverhaulact.org, which tackles this and several other systemic government problems with a set of proposed Constitutional amendments focused on six areas of concern: Federal Election Campaign Reform, Congressional Compensation Limits, Elimination of Party Favoritism, Congressional Term Limits, Congressional Size Limits, and Federal Budget-Deficit Reform. And, if you agree with the proposals of the Act, pass it on to your friends, family, and elected representatives so that we may actually make a positive impact on the future of our nation!
Well now Newt has money . Now all they need is an electable candidate. LOL hang on newter matching funds day is coming soon and you can quit . Just like Hermie .
Newtie dewti just fell out of the clown car
Every time I hear something about Newt and millions of dollars , it just doesn't quite sit well with me any more....