Mitt Romney, presumptive frontrunner of the 2012 Republican presidential nomination race, showed on Monday why he’s still a force to be reckoned with.
Despite a general malaise about his candidacy in reports from across the campaign trail — and on the heels of a widely-panned speech about his health care views — team Romney announced it raised $10.25 million in a nationwide phone bank on Monday.
Adviser Eric Fehrnstrom tweeted the news after a day-long fundraising day in Las Vegas.
“$10.25 million for Romney call day,” Fehrnstom tweeted. “Not bad.”
Romney reportedly told donors earlier this year that he’d raise $50 million in the fundraising period that followed his announcement for president. His campaign walked that back a bit, clarifying that $50 million was the total fundraising goal for the whole campaign once the quarter ends in June.
The $10 million Romney hauled in from the eight-hour, 800-person phone bank in Vegas will definitely help reach that goal. Plus it could serve as a rare bit of good news for a campaign that’s been struggling to connect Romney’s past as a universal health care champion in Massachusetts to the present anti-health care reform GOP base.
Team Romney was certainly very pleased.
“The results are a strong indication of the national enthusiasm for Governor Romney and his pro-jobs platform,” Spencer Zwick, Romney’s finance chair, said in a statement. ” As today’s event makes clear, Governor Romney will have the resources to be competitive and to spread his jobs and economy message. We would like to thank all of the friends, volunteers and supporters who helped make this event a success.”
