Pawlenty Spins His Fundraising Numbers

Today, Governor Tim Pawlenty’s spokesman, Alex Conant, released this statement:

"Gov. Pawlenty will report that his campaign has raised about $4.2 million, and begins the third quarter with more available cash-on-hand than the Republicans who won the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary had in July 2007."

That’s very impressive, considering Mike Huckabee and John McCain won those primaries back in 2007.  Huckabee went on to become a major contender for the nomination, and still has name recognition today.  McCain, as everyone knows, went on to win the GOP nomination.  The only problem is that this is a ridiculously misleading statement.

Huckabee had hardly any name recognition at this point in 2007, and there is a reason McCain was called “The Comeback Kid.”  Comparing himself to two candidates who were considered underdogs at this point in their campaigns is rarely a good sign.

Such a spin denotes trouble in the Pawlenty campaign.  If he is compared to his current rivals in the primaries, Pawlenty is in sore shape.  Jon Huntsman (who many say is faking his campaign so he can make a better run in 2016) seems to be the only major player with less funds: $4.1 million -- half of that being his own cash.  Tea Party movement godfather, Ron Paul, has raised over $4.5 million this week alone. And Mitt Romney is estimated to have three or four times as much cash on hand as Pawlenty just reported.  The fact that they are being forced to spin this kind of report to the press doesn’t bode well for Team T-Paw.