LA has been a popular destination recently for presidential candidates seeking to raise money. A who’s who of the 2008 field has been in town holding fundraisers recently and now the results are in. And they are astounding.
Hillary Clinton clocked in at $26 million; Barack Obama raised $25 million; former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney surprised a lot of people with a $21 million haul.
The Clinton-Obama brawl for the Democratic nomination appears to be shaping up as advertised. But, with Romney’s ascension to the top of the money heap, Republicans appear to have a similarly tantalizing nomination fight on their hands.
McCain’s best days could be behind him, making the guys to watch Romney and Rudy Giuliani (who raised $15 million in the first quarter).
As for Giuliani, the theory I have heard most often is that he would be a strong candidate in the general election but that the twice divorced, pro-choice former Mayor would have a tough time getting the nomination because he would not be viewed favorably by the GOP base. That point appears to be moot if a recent LA fundraiser is any indication. After an appearance in Brentwood hosted by Bill Simon, and a slew of LA notables, one of the hosts, real estate mogul C. Frederick Wehba, who founded an evangelical Christian church in Beverly Hills, solidly threw his support behind Rudy and indicated that he is not alone in the Christian community.
So where does all of this leave us? The election is still a year and a half away and we’re at $88 million and counting, with two separate marquis match-ups among the candidates. Something tells me we are going to be seeing a lot more of these folks here in LA before this is all over.
Posted by: Ryan_Knoll on Wednesday, April 04, 2007 - 03:00 PM
