CNN reports that Sarah Palin’s political-action committee is planning a “far more aggressive” fundraising effort as the midterm elections approach:
SarahPAC collected $400,000 in the first quarter of the year, said the PAC’s Treasurer Tim Crawford, but spent $409,000 in that same period. The rapid spending rate was owed in part to a substantial national mail program launched on March 25, Crawford said. The results of the program, the PAC’s first solicitation by mail, were not yet realized by the time the quarter ended
The PAC also doled out $9,500 to candidates since January. The former Alaska governor entered April with $919,000 in the bank . . .
Crawford said the PAC plans to be “far more aggressive” in its fundraising efforts as the midterm elections heat up. He noted that the PAC has held just one fundraising event so far in 2010, a small fundraiser in Tennessee. There will be more fundraisers, he said, along with the mail program.
“We weren’t as aggressive in the first quarter and now we are,” he told CNN. “We are not just going to rely on online [donations].”
John Fund of the Wall Street Journal says that Palin’s PAC efforts are probably not tethered to any 2012 ambitions:
Ms. Palin’s political action committee is raising decent but unspectacular amounts. SarahPAC raised $400,000 in the first quarter of this year, a haul smaller than similar PACs run by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty ($566,000) and Mitt Romney ($1.45 million). Both men are likely candidates for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012.
All in all, the available evidence is that Ms. Palin’s Excellent Adventure Tour is bringing in too much fun and profit for her to consider giving it up as early as next year to run for president. At age 46, she has the luxury of securing her financial future, repairing cracks in her credibility from the 2008 campaign and waiting for another year to run for president. If I had to bet, she’ll still be running for the gold in 2012 rather than the presidential brass ring.