Paul is the only candidate with the resources to challenge financially

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
January 5, 2012

FEC figures released this week indicate that the Ron Paul 2012 campaign raised $13 million in the fourth quarter of 2011, a significant increase on the $8 million Paul raised in the third quarter.

A large bulk of that cash came from an independently organized donation drive last month. The campaign saw $4 million donated in just one weekend in mid December as part of a ‘Tea Party Money Bomb’.

The funds will allow the Paul campaign to forge ahead and buy more advertising ahead of further primaries and caucuses nationwide.

Unlike candidates such as Rick Santorum and John Huntsman, Paul has the potential to continue to raise substantial sums of money and progress his campaign beyond Iowa and New Hampshire, owing to a large and loyal grassroots support base.

Only Mitt Romney will be able to pull in more funding nationwide. His fourth quarter total is said to be in the region of $20 million.

Following his second place finish in Iowa, Santorum gained around $1 million in donations in a 24 hour period. Campaigning in New Hampshire last night, Santorum told his supporters that over half the funding for his entire campaign so far came in on Tuesday and Wednesday.

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It is clear however that Santorum has no national fundraising network. Indeed, his website was unable to handle the amount of donations in the wake of the Iowa results and experienced a period of inactivity.

As Newt Gingrich has fallen away from the front runners, donations to his campaign have slowed significantly. The former House Speaker posted around $10 million in the fourth quarter, however, his campaign is still mired in substantial debt.

Sources indicate that Rick Perry has around $3.5 million in his coffers, but he will also find it hard to continue to raise funds when he is polling in low single digits.