GOP Donors Waiting to Choose Candidates

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has the lead in the early money race for the GOP presidential primary, but most donors still are waiting before unleashing their cash. Only 60 or so of the 530 leading GOP party fundraisers for John McCain’s 2008 presidential run have donated money so far, according to USA Today and the Center for Responsive Politics.

Mitt Romney

Through Dec. 31, the top six GOP presidential money contenders are Romney’s Free and Strong America PAC with $9.1 million; Sarah Palin’s Sarah PAC with $5.7 million; Tim Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC, $3.4 million; Mike Huckabee’s Huck PAC, $1.8 million; Haley Barbour’s committee called Haley’s PAC, $1.1 million; and Newt Gingrich’s American Solution PAC with $736,729.

Big-money donors are waiting for the field to thin out.

"I'm not going to give money to people who are just thinking about it," David Girard-diCarlo, a top fundraiser for McCain and President George W. Bush, told the newspaper. "I've got a whole bunch of friends who are at least thinking about it . . . I'm going to wait and see."