Romney Raises $6.5 Million In One-Day Blitz

By: Chris Cillizza

The Washington Post

Tuesday, Jan 09, 2007

"Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney raised $6.5 million for his presidential exploratory committee yesterday, sending a powerful message to his potential opponents about the seriousness of his bid for the Republican nomination.

"Romney gathered about 400 of his largest financial backers for an all-day call-a-thon at the Boston convention center. The group included politicians such as Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, former Massachusetts governor William F. Weld and former lieutenant governor Kerry Healey, as well as deep-pocketed fundraisers such as Utah billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr., eBay chief executive Meg Whitman and Tennessee money man Ted Welch.

"The politicos and fundraisers hit up friends and colleagues, and many of them wrote their own checks to contribute to the day's total. Less than four hours into the effort, Romney had surpassed his goal of raising $1 million; 90 minutes later, he announced that more than $2.5 million had been collected and urged callers to 'keep on dialing for dollars.' The day's total included actual contributions and what a Romney spokesman called 'signed pledges.'

...

"While the Romney campaign touted its huge one-day total, the planning for the event had been going on for some time.

"Participants gathered for dinner Sunday night and after breakfast yesterday before they began their calls. Each person was supplied a laptop computer and given access to new sales-based software, known as ComMitt, developed for Romney's presidential exploratory committee.

"'In a presidential campaign, it's one thing to talk about your organizational strength but it's another to showcase it,' said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden."

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