Outside the Beltway

Jon Huntsman Raises $1.2 Million On First Day Of Campaign

Doug Mataconis · Wednesday, June 22, 2011 · 3 comments

Say what you will about the quixotic nature of the Jon Huntsman for President campaign, but his first day fundraising haul was fairly impressive:

Jon M. Huntsman Jr. opened his day on Tuesday by formally declaring his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. He closed it by accomplishing an equally-important task: collecting $1.2 million for his campaign.

A dinner in Manhattan, hosted by Lynn Forester de Rothschild, was the venue to kickoff Mr. Huntsman’s fund-raising effort. It was the first stop in a weeklong fund-raising sprint, as Mr. Huntsman tries to catch up with the rest of the Republican presidential field that is locked in a cutthroat scramble to sign up high-dollar donors.

Mr. Huntsman is attending a fund-raising dinner Wednesday night in Columbia, S.C., followed by three finance events Thursday in Florida. By Friday, he will be in Utah, where he will raise money on the same day that Mitt Romney, his Republican rival, will visit the state.

(….)

When Mr. Huntsman returned to the United States seven weeks ago from serving as ambassador to China, his campaign-in-waiting included a long list of potential contributors for him to meet. He and his wife, Mary Kaye, have spent considerable time meeting those donors, including Ms. de Rothschild, a longtime Democratic supporter of Hillary Rodham Clinton who changed party loyalties in 2008 and endorsed the Republican ticket.

Having money will allow Huntsman to get his message out, but the question is whether the voters will listen.