Is Michele Bachmann running out of money?
With just one more day for fundraising in the third quarter, reports say Michele Bachmann is running so low on funding that she might not make it to the Iowa caucuses.
Bachmann's fundraising situation is "dire," one anonymous source told Politico, while another said her fundraising earnings for the third quarter would fall short of the combined $4 million she brought in during the prior three month period.
A computer vendor has even threatened to shut off the power at the Bachmann campaign offices for unpaid bills, the New York Post reported, citing an unnamed source.
"She does not like to ask for money. She should have been focusing on big donors about three months ago," a source told the Post. "She's only cultivated low dollar donors with direct mailings and that's hurt her."
The disclosures come as Bachmann's poll numbers continue to plummet.
A survey by Fox News puts the candidate's support at just three percent - a far cry from the 15 percent she garnered in a July poll by the same organization, and an indicator that her August 13 victory in Iowa's straw poll may have been a peak moment for the Minnesota lawmaker.
Politico sources also note Bachmann's reluctance to call donors - "She just won't do it," one said - but said, too, that a part of the problem was the candidate's often feisty rhetoric.
"It's really hard to convince Wall Street donors to give to someone who is trashing their industry," a source told Politico.
Bachmann spokesperson Alice Stewart says the campaign would not be releasing fundraising numbers until the filings become public at the end of next month, but she told Politico that the candidate was "working hard" to get support.
"She is working hard. She makes fundraising calls," said Stewart. "Courting big donors is a process, but we've had meetings [with donors]."
Early on in the campaign, Bachmann was considered a powerful fundraiser: She raised $13 million for her most recent House re-election campaign, far surpassing the standard congressional fundraising figures. Her second quarter earnings, however, fell short of expectations at just $4.2 million. (For a point of comparison, fellow presidential candidate Mitt Romney brought in $18.5 million during that same timeframe, and President Obama earned $86 million.)
Bachmann's campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
