Campaign 2012: Bring on the cash money

On the cusp of the Pennsylvania primary, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney campaigned in Delaware County on Monday afternoon, accompanied by one of his most-discussed potential running mates, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.


Rick Santorum's decision to drop out two weeks ago has drained Tuesday's GOP presidential primary of any remaining drama, so Rubio created a buzz as he and Romney answered questions during a town-hall meeting at Mustang Expediting, a transportation company in Aston.


Neither Romney nor Rubio would take that bait at a brief news conference before the event, but the crowd of several hundred appreciated the senator's star power. He drew louder applause than Romney at several points.


Romney, who has called President Obama too inexperienced, declined to answer a Fox News reporter's question about whether Rubio, 40 and in his first Senate term, was qualified to serve a heartbeat away from the presidency.


A narrowing of the race is likely to help both sides raise cash. The candidates, and their donors, are now able to stare across the aisle to an easily identifiable opposition candidate.
The Obama team is off to a decent start. The campaign announced last week that they raised $53 million in March, and have, when combined with the Democratic National Committee, a war chest of about $130 million.
More money, more votes: The billion dollar campaign
Romney's camp raised $12.6 million in primary funds in March, but has only $10 million in cash on hand -- leaving Obama with a more than 10-to-1 advantage.
That doesn't mean the Romney campaign isn't attracting donors. Over the past year, the campaign has raised $87 million in funds, but most of the haul was spent vanquishing primary opponents.

With Obama already far ahead, Romney needs to start stockpiling money.
"If there is one thing that Romney has been incredibly effective at, it's raising money," said Bill Allison, editorial director at the Sunlight Foundation, a group that advocates for transparency in government. "He has a national network. He is going to be a prodigious money raising machine."