Santorum not keeping pace in fundraising race

But the former Pennsylvania senator’s inability to keep pace in the money race has some questioning his prospects for Tuesday’s primaries and beyond.

“Basically, he’s been knocking himself out doing appearance after appearance in states with primaries,” said Nancy Martorano Miller, associate professor of political science at the University of Dayton.

“This will become much harder with all the states having primaries (on Super Tuesday).”

Santorum once had a double-digit lead in some polls in Ohio, but is slipping, according to a Quinnipiac University Poll released Friday. The poll said Tuesday’s race was too close to call.

Santorum raised less money than any of the four Republicans in the race, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, with Romney essentially in a league of his own.

Santorum collected $405,274 in the 10 states — Ohio, Georgia, Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia — while Romney received $9.2 million, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at $1.7 million and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul at $1.6 million.

Romney topped the list of Republicans in eight of the 10 states, with Paul leading in Alaska and North Dakota.

The only candidate to come close to Romney was Democratic President Barack Obama, who collected nearly $8.9 million in the Super Tuesday states.

In Ohio, Obama outraised even Romney, $683,125 to $594,987. Santorum, meanwhile, raised only $68,950 from Ohioans during his campaign.

Santorum won three contests — in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado — after the latest finance reports were filed, so his totals do not reflect any bump he may have received in fundraising.

“What fundraising in each state does tell us is something about support the candidate has among political activists,” said John C. Green, director of the University of Akron’s Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.

Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said Romney is focusing his campaign on his themes of cutting taxes, limiting spending and reducing government.

“We are very pleased with the resources the campaign has raised,” Williams said. “We think we will be able to grow our support based on the governor’s conservative principals and his plans to turn around our economy.”

The campaigns for Santorum, Paul and Gingrich did not respond to requests for comment.

Obama spokesman Frank Benenati said the president will continue to attract broad fundraising support. He said the campaign will contrast Obama’s vision of “strengthening the middle class and ensuring economic fairness for every American ... (with) the Republicans who favor more tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and corporations, and want to go back to the failed economic policies that created this problem.”

‘Money’s important’

The Daily News examination found Santorum’s surprise surge in January led to a burst of contributions. His January totals for Ohio were more than six times what he received during the final quarter of 2011, and topped the other three Republican candidates.

Nationally, though, the $6.7 million that Santorum raised through January is about one-tenth of what Romney raised, and one-twentieth of Obama’s totals. The Republican candidates have also had to spend a higher percentage of their funds, leaving whoever gets the nomination in a big hole in cash on hand.

“Money’s important whether we want it to be or not,” said UD’s Martorano Miller. “I think it was probably money that put Romney back over the edge, particularly in Michigan.”

The funding landscape is different this presidential election year because of the introduction of Super PACs, which can accept and spend unlimited amounts as long as they do not coordinate their activities with the candidates they support.

But even there, Santorum is lagging.

The Super PAC supporting his candidacy, the Red, White and Blue Fund, raised $2.8 million compared to Restore Our Future, which has raised $36.8 million to back Romney.

Mark Caleb Smith, director of the Center for Political Studies at Cedarville College, said the hurdles of competing in multiple states with limited resources turns Tuesday into a make-or-break day for Santorum.

“My guess is Romney puts it away on Super Tuesday,” said Smith. “It won’t be officially over. It will be effectively over.”

Smith believes Paul and Gingrich will stay in the race, just as they have said they will, to drive home their messages to party activists and the general public.

“I think their goal is to get a speaking slot at the convention,” Smith said. “I don’t think they’ll get enough delegates to get a brokered convention.”

Finding a message

The race has been anything but predictable, and Romney so far has been unable to string together enough victories to put distance between him and his rivals.

In fact, part of Santorum’s success, analysts said, is that he has emerged as the main alternative to Romney, allowing him to stay in the race despite being underfunded.

“There is a strong far right base in the party that can’t get comfortable with Romney, even though in their heart of hearts they know this is the guy who has the best shot at attracting the moderates and independents and beat (President Barack) Obama,” said Martorano Miller.

Santorum has also tapped into social issues and blue-collar populism, said Herb Asher, professor emeritus of political science at Ohio State University.

“I think he has found a message,” said Asher. “I think he is a person who comes off as sincere and authentic.”

That sincerity is part of what prompted Mary Mobley, 61, of Washington Twp. to support Santorum, contributing $2,500 to his campaign.

“We love Rick Santorum. He’s pro-life, he’s conservative, he’s been the same guy the whole way,” said Mobley. “He’s got good morals. I can’t say enough good things about him.”

Interviews with supporters of each candidate give a sense of what message is hitting home.

Thomas Loges, 65, owner of Loges Sales and Service in Harrison Twp., says he gave $800 to Gingrich because he understands the needs of small businesses.

“I think he understands that more taxes is not an incentive to businesses to take the risk to go into business,” Loges said.

Wayne Thor, 68, a self-employed counselor in Xenia, touted Paul’s anti-war stance, honesty, consistency and “view that our government is to be a constitutional republic.”

“Pretty much his views are my views, so that’s why I support him,” said Thor, who gave Paul $850.

Raquelle Scott, 54, of Washington Twp. gave $1,000 to Romney.

“I think he has the most solid plan to get our economy back on track,” said Scott, who is a training consultant for her husband’s business, Scott’s Industrial Systems.

She doesn’t buy the argument often presented by the other candidates that Romney isn’t conservative enough.

“I’m not sure why there is such a resistance to him because I think anyone who studies his policies, it’s a formidable argument on his behalf,” Scott said.

Each said they would eventually unite behind whoever is the nominee.

Lewis Ashman, 56, of Kettering said he knows Obama is facing a hard fight.

“I love him,” said Ashman, a substitute teacher who gave Obama $986. “He’s articulate, he’s intelligent, he has a grounded view toward solving problems. I don’t think he will be stampeded by the left or the right into doing what he doesn’t believe in.”

Big vs. small donors

The Daily News examination found one fundraising statistic in which Romney trails his Republican rivals, and Smith said it could hurt him.

Only 10 percent of Romney’s contributions came from small donors, or those contributing $200 or less.

For each of the other candidates, including Democrat Obama, the percentage was in the 47 to 49 percent range, roughly half of all donors.

That could bode ill for Romney, said Smith, if he doesn’t expand his fundraising base beyond the bigger spenders.

“If I were the Romney campaign, I’d be a little worried,” Smith said.

But Romney’s candidacy has had no problem attracting big-money contributors, who once they hit the maximum contribution allowed for his campaign can give unlimited money to Restore Our Future, the Super PAC supporting him.

Donors to candidate campaigns are limited to $2,500 in contributions per election — for a total of $5,000 in the primary and general election.

The Super PAC system, created by the 2010 Citizens United ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, allowed billionaire casino executive Sheldon Adelson and his wife to give $10 million to Winning Our Future, the Super PAC supporting Gingrich.

Meanwhile, Dreamworks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg gave $2 million to Priorities USA Action, the Super PAC supporting Obama.

Foster S. Freiss, a mutual fund manager who recently made a controversial joke about using aspirin as a contraceptive, gave $1 million to the Santorum-backer, the Red White and Blue Fund.

The influence by the Super PACs can be seen in the contribution totals for January. Romney’s campaign raised $6.5 million, while Restore Our Future raised $6.6 million.

It’s unclear what impact the Super PAC money will have on who wins the race, but it clearly has affected the tone.

During the GOP primary of 2008, when Super PAC money did not exist, 6 percent of the ads were negative, according to a Washington Post study last month.

In this campaign, the newspaper found, more than 50 percent of the ads are negative.

“I think the Super PACs are game-changers,” said Martorano Miller. “They are game-changers because they are the ones who are going to be able to run the most negative of the negative ads.”

Super Tuesday contributions

**Total itemized contributions to candidates listed here do not include contributions made to super PACs.

Source: Federal Election Commission campaign finance data through Jan. 31, 2012, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics

Super PACs and who they support Super PACs are political action committees that, unlike candidates, can accept unlimited contributions as long as they are independent of the candidate they support.

Note: Some show less money raised than spent due in part to differences in reporting deadlines for certain reports. Source: Federal Election Commission data through Feb. 28, 2012, compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.