Romney Tops GOP Dash For Cash

(CBS/AP)  Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney topped the GOP presidential field in fundraising by raking in $23 million during the first quarter of the year. Rudy Giuliani finished second with $15 million. Hillary Clinton led the Democrats with $26 million.

Contributions to candidates of both parties blew away previous first-quarter fundraising records. Aides to Giuliani, the former New York mayor and the Republican frontrunner, said he raised more than $10 million during March alone.

Giuliani said he has raised nearly $17 million since he formed his presidential exploratory committee in November and had $11 million cash on hand as of Saturday, most of which is money intended for the primary fight.

Democrat Clinton swelled her campaign war chest by transferred an additional $10 million from her Senate fundraising account, aides said. The New York senator's total included $4.2 million raised through the Internet.

The fundraising deadline for the January through March period was Saturday, with financial reports due April 15.

Former Senator John Edwards reported his initial campaign cash drive at $14 million. That's double what the North Carolina Democrat raised in the same time period in his last run for the White House.

The fundraising totals are a crucial test for the candidates and indicate whose campaign is strongest less than a year before the first primary votes are cast.

Two top-rung presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama and GOP Sen. John McCain, have yet to release their first-quarter totals.

Experts have predicted this will be the first $1 billion presidential contest, reports CBS News correspondent Joie Chen. Outrageous as it sounds, it looks like they're right.

Nineteen months ahead of Election Day, candidates aren't just running for president, adds Chen. They are running for the money.

Clinton, for example, hit three fundraisers in the 24 hours before Saturday's midnight deadline. Giuliani pressed donor flesh just about every day for the last two weeks.

Republican Phil Gramm of Texas and Democrat Al Gore of Tennessee held the previous high-water mark for first quarter receipts: $8.7 million for Gramm in 1995 and $8.9 million for Gore in 1995.