Perry's $17 Million Fundraising Haul

POLITICS -- October 5, 2011 at 9:57 AM EDT

Perry's $17 Million Fundraising Haul

Texas Gov. Rick Perry File photo by Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

The good news for Rick Perry is that there is finally good news for Rick Perry.

After weeks of playing defense on substance (Social Security, immigration) and style (three successively weak debate performances), the Perry campaign gets to boast of its splashy third quarter fundraising win with $17 million raised in just over half the three month period due to Perry's late entry into the race on August 13.

In roughly half the amount of time Mitt Romney had to raise money, the Perry campaign's $17 million far outpaced Romney's expected $11 - $13 million haul.

Two important caveats:

A candidate's first quarter on the fundraising circuit is the one full of all that low-hanging fruit, just sitting right there waiting to be plucked.
The big fundraising number does little to alter the reality or the perception of the current dynamic of the race. Political observers and practitioners alike all expected both Romney and Perry to have enough money in their coffers to go the distance in a battle for the nomination. It appears they will have the ability to do just that.

"The generous contributions from Americans across the nation prove the overwhelming support for Gov. Perry's principled, conservative leadership and vision to get America working again," said Perry Campaign Manager Rob Johnson.

The campaign reports that all but roughly $50,000 of the $17 million is for use in the nomination contest and they have spent little over the first two months of the young campaign. As of September 30, the campaign had $15 million in cash on hand.

Campaign fundraising reports for the third quarter, which ended on September 30, are not due to the Federal Election Commission until October 15.

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*File photo by Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.* The good news for Rick Perry is that there is finally good news for Rick Perry. After weeks of playing defense on substance (Social Security, immigration) and style (three successively weak debate performances), the Perry campaign gets to boast of its splashy third quarter fundraising win with $17 million raised in just over half the three month period due to Perry's late entry into the race on August 13. In roughly half the amount of time Mitt Romney had to raise money, the Perry campaign's $17 million far outpaced Romney's expected $11 - $13 million haul. Two important caveats: - A candidate's first quarter on the fundraising circuit is the one full of all that low-hanging fruit, just sitting right there waiting to be plucked. - The big fundraising number does little to alter the reality or the perception of the current dynamic of the race. Political observers and practitioners alike all expected both Romney and Perry to have enough money in their coffers to go the distance in a battle for the nomination. It appears they will have the ability to do just that. "The generous contributions from Americans across the nation prove the overwhelming support for Gov. Perry's principled, conservative leadership and vision to get America working again," said Perry Campaign Manager Rob Johnson. The campaign reports that all but roughly $50,000 of the $17 million is for use in the nomination contest and they have spent little over the first two months of the young campaign. As of September 30, the campaign had $15 million in cash on hand. Campaign fundraising reports for the third quarter, which ended on September 30, are not due to the Federal Election Commission until October 15. *For more political coverage, visit our* [politics page](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/topic/politics/). [Sign up here](http://pbs.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=8aa1c620fd96b27384151c36e&id=47f99db221) *to receive the Morning Line in your inbox every morning.*