misunderestimation

Former governor Mitt Romney’s campaign kicked into high gear yesterday with an all day, high-profile fundraising effort that netted $6.5 Million in one day.

“They blew me away with their success,” Romney told reporters at an evening news conference. “And we will be able to continue to build slowly but surely a highly successful financial effort and campaign. This is not, if you will, a big flash and disappearance.”

Tom Tellefsen, a private investor from California and one of Romney’s national finance cochairmen, said the daylong blitz would “send a very strong message” to others in the race, both to top-tier rivals such as Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, and to “those that are considering or haven’t really yet laid the groundwork that maybe they should have.”

This fundraising campaign took a different route than most:

Traditionally, supporters would get an invitation to a fund-raiser and be asked to write a check. But Romney’s committee took it one step further, asking those who already support him to come with their own Rolodex or holiday card list and ask family members, friends or business associates to support Romney, Zwick said. Callers could take credit card donations right over the phone, or pledges for checks to be mailed to the campaign headquarters.

Callers had a bit of a script to follow and had access to information on Romney’s stance on certain issues, but mainly spoke on their own to people they were calling.

Jerry Lewis has nothing on Mitt Romney.

The fall-out from this fundraiser will be interesting. With these type of numbers being raised as a campaign is starting means we could be in for some truly obnoxious numbers before it’s all over. The size of the numbers may scare away the candidates who were hoping to test the waters before jumping in with both feet. The price for swimming just went up.

Ankle Biting Pundits: That said, let us be clear: This was a publicity stunt; a very impressively executed stunt, but a stunt, nevertheless (right down to the distinctive 70’s-style telephones). According to data released by the Romney camp to Hugh Hewitt—who maintains his impartiality on the subject—the $6.5 million take was the result of approximately 15,000 outgoing phone calls. Additional reports state that the day’s events cost the Romney committee roughly $300,000 to put on. Now anyone who has worked on a political campaign can tell you that it would normally cost a phone vendor about $5,000 to $7,000 to call 15,000 existing donors and ask them to re-up. We’re looking at a $293,000 press release here.

Rhymes With Right: Not a bad single day total — and indicative that there is a base of support among Republicans unhappy with the other two front-runners.

Betsy’s Page: A week ago, the storyline on Romney was the difficulty he was having convincning social conservatives that he was sincere on issues that they care about since he is perceived as flipping on those issues when convenient. This week, the story is about what a clever campaign he’s begun to run. The Romney people gotta love that switch.

Captain’s Quarters: However, the real benefit of this big score will come from its deterrent value. Until now, the field had appeared to have a wide opening for a dark-horse candidate. With Romney arriving with such a splash, the less known candidates will have to consider whether the race will have enough room for a surprise from the sidelines. Candidates such as Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter have to consider whether the ante might force them out of the game before they hit the table.

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