WASHINGTON — Twelve years ago, Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas rocked the political world when he reported that he had raised a then-stunning $13.4 million by the end of the first quarter of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Despite his success at impressing donors, Gramm finished fifth in the Iowa caucuses and dropped his presidential bid before voters could even cast a ballot in New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary.
Nevertheless, Democratic and Republican candidates for president in 2008 are furiously raising money in the final days of the first quarter of 2007, which ends Saturday. Results that are surprising or disappointing have the potential to recast the pecking order, shifting new attention to some candidates while putting pressure on others to reconsider the race.
"It's important because it's the first real report card on the campaigns that's hard to spin," said Steve Elmendorf, who helped run Dick Gephardt's presidential campaign and then John Kerry's in 2004. "Either you've got some money or you don't."
The ability to raise money is crucial because it allows a candidate to communicate his or her message to voters, especially in large states where expensive television advertising is essential. It also enables candidates to put together a large infrastructure for staff and technology.
"It's not a leading indicator that you're going to win, but if you don't have it, you're not going to win," said Charles Black Jr., a longtime Republican consultant who helped Gramm in 1996 and is backing Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) now.
Recognizing that, major candidates have been scrambling.
During this week alone, McCain has traveled to New York; New Jersey; the Texas cities of Austin, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas; as well as the Florida cities of Orlando, Ponte Vedra Beach and Vero Beach, in order to raise money.
Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, put pressure on potential donors with an e-mail Thursday titled "Big Splash," urging them to act.
"Are you ready to steer our nation and our Republican Party back onto the path of conservative principles that have long created jobs, protected families, kept taxes low and made our nation the world's greatest hope for freedom?" Romney asked in the e-mail. "If your answer is 'yes,' then I need your help in the next 48 hours."
