Backers of Republican Rep. Ron Paul's 2008 presidential bid are working their fundraising magic with prospective Connecticut Senate candidate Peter Schiff.
They've rallied around Schiff, a libertarian financier and former Paul presidential adviser, helping him raise $528,000 since announcing in mid-July that he was formally exploring a challenge to incumbent Democrat Christopher J. Dodd. And today they are launching a "money bomb" -- the type of one-day online fundraising push that helped Paul net more than $6 million in a 24-hour-period in December 2007 -- that Schiff organizers hope will bring in $200,000 more.
Schiff is considering entering the crowded Republican field to take on Dodd, one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in 2010. He is using his fundraising efforts to test his viability as a candidate, telling backers last month that his decision "is largely dependent on the level of early support and contributions I receive from people like you."
This sort of response is bound to be encouraging. And it will put him within striking distance, resource-wise, of fellow Republican candidates former Rep. Rob Simmons, who raised $754,000 through June 30, and businessman Tom Foley, a former ambassador to Ireland, who has pulled in $573,000 since launching his campaign June 3. Dodd still leads all candidates with $2.3 million in total receipts.
Fundraising ability, however, is not the same as broad-based political support. A July poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found Schiff trailing Dodd by just 5 percentage points (38 percent for Schiff, 43 percent for Dodd), but not registering at all in a poll of registered Republicans.
Simmons remains the Republican establishment favorite. In the Quinnipiac poll, he earned the backing of 42 percent of registered Republicans, compared with 5 percent for Foley and state Sen. Sam Caligiuri. And on Friday, he won the endorsement of Connecticut House Republican Leader Larry Cafero.
UPDATE: Schiff's exploratory campaign announced Monday that his fundraising total has surpassed $800,000, including $329,000 through 4,880 online donations since Thursday. That "puts him firmly in front of other Republicans already in the race," Schiff's committee noted in a statement.
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