AUSTIN, TEXAS — The guests -- who arrived in limousines, Mercedes-Benzes and other luxury cars -- were in place before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton greeted her host with a hug and proceeded behind the mansion doors.
It was the first of four fundraising stops over the weekend in Texas that the New York Democrat had planned in a 24-hour period ending Saturday night, one of many also being played out across the country by her Republican and Democratic rivals.
Long before the first votes are cast in Iowa and New Hampshire, presidential candidates are immersed in their own version of March Madness -- a dizzying pace of fundraisers intended to display their financial strength by the end of the month, when they must disclose for the first time how much money they have amassed.
The stakes in this "money primary" are every bit as high as those in the real primaries early next year. Candidates know that big numbers will attract more money and bolster their credibility; a lackluster showing could dash their hopes.
"Until we have a primary, fundraising is going to be a form of primary," said former California Republican Party Chairman Michael Schroeder, who is directing Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in the state.
In Iowa and New Hampshire, voters expect candidates to meet them face-to-face. In the money primary, face time comes with a price -- commonly $2,300 per ticket.
In Austin on Friday night, about 175 people, including Hollywood producer and real estate heir Stephen Bing, descended on the home of Roy Spence.
Spence has known Clinton and her husband, the former president, since George S. McGovern's run for the White House in 1972. As the Clintons pursued politics, Spence built his advertising agency, coining such phrases as the anti-littering "Don't mess with Texas" and one used four years ago by then-Sen. John Edwards, one of Clinton's current rivals: "Hope is on the way."
Chatting on his front lawn shortly before his featured guest arrived, Spence pledged to help Clinton "in any way I can." Then he came up with a line that had possibilities: "She'll start from strength, not from scratch." He paused. "That's a good line."
An e-mail from Clinton's campaign last week reflected the urgency of the fundraising push. Calling for a big turnout for three events planned March 25 in the Bay Area, the missive said the March 31 deadline was "the first big test for all of the presidential candidates.... We need your help to ensure that Hillary has a strong and impressive showing."
