Mike Huckabee might currently be sitting atop the polls of potential 2012 GOP presidential candidates but, just as happened during his 2008 run, his support among grassroots activists is not translating into fund-raising:
Recent polls show he is among the early frontrunners for the 2012 GOP presidential bid, but when it comes to fundraising this year, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee trails well behind his chief rivals.
The former Republican presidential candidate e-mailed supporters Thursday night announcing he has raised a little over $300,000 in the first six months of the year, a cash haul that is only about 20 percent of the $1.6 million former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took in the same period.
It’s also about a third of what former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has raised since January. Her political action committee, SarahPAC, reported raising $730,000 through July 1, but a spokeswoman for Palin said the Alaska Republican took in an additional $200,000 in the early days of July after announcing she was stepping down as governor.
In addition, Newt Gingrich’s PAC, American Solutions for Winning the Future, took in more than $8 million in the first half of the year.
Perhaps these low fund-raising numbers for Huckabee explain why the PAC recently had to undergo a “restructuring” and why Huckabee is charging candidates his PAC has endorsed more than $30,000 to speak at their fund-raisers.
