Bet they won’t hammer if a big fraction of Hillary’s money comes from Hollywood. There are no dangerous loons in that industry!

GMA 4/3/07 7AM tease Diane Sawyer: “This morning: Raking it in. Republican hopeful Mitt Romney sets off a political earthquake, surprising opponents by raising $23 million. How? Here’s a clue: a little help from two unlikely friends.” 7:02 Diane Sawyer: “But, at the top of the news this morning, that race for 2008. What a difference a day makes. The Republican underdog blew his opponents out of the water on fund-raising. Mitt Romney raking in the millions. But how? He is here with us this morning. But first, our GMA senior national correspondent Claire Shipman has more. Claire?” Claire Shipman: “Good morning, Diane. Well, ‘08 is all about unpredictability and the biggest surprise? Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who at times has had poll numbers so low he’s barely been on the charts, pulls off a huge win in first-quarter fund-raising. Tremors at the top of the Republican field after the first dollar match-up of the year. The relatively unknown Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney reeling in a surprise $23 million in the first quarter. That’s almost double the take of war hero and Washington insider John McCain at $12.5 million and substantially more than the $15 million 9/11 icon and current front-runner Rudy Giuliani brought in.” Terry Holt (Fmr. Bush campaign advisor): “Money is the thing in the early stages of a campaign.” Shipman: “It will certainly help his profile that he’s just about pulled even with formidable fund-raiser Hillary Clinton’s $26 million. For a candidate who may be best known, especially on the late night circuit, for his faith–” [Clip from ‘Late Night With Conan O’Brien’] Conan O’Brien: “Apparently Romney is planning on winning the soccer mom vote by marrying all of them.” Shipman: “And who’s in fact sparked a national debate about whether a Mormon can be elected, Romney has certainly proved a Mormon can win the dollar derby. Who gave? The breakdown isn’t out yet. Campaign sources expect Mormon financial support will be substantial, but insiders say the real story is that the former investment banker knows the financial game.” Holt: “He was part of the Herculean task of raising money for the Olympics in Salt Lake City. He has also courted the Bush rangers which really are the key to Republican fund-raising in presidential politics today.” Mitt Romney: “I have actually built a very strong network of people across the country and on the first day of our effort, we sat our finance committee down and raised 6.5 million in one day.” Shipman: “Now, the Giuliani and McCain teams have both been busy explaining either they got a late start or they just haven’t been fund-raising aggressively enough. But the fact is, also, money isn’t everything, as past presidential campaigns have shown. And the Romney team told me last night, they know they still have a lot of work to do with the voters, Robin.” Robin Roberts: “Well, Claire, now we’re going to talk to the man of the morning, former Governor Mitt Romney. We spoke from Watertown, Massachusetts to discuss those staggering fund-raising totals that are the talk of the town. Governor Romney, we certainly do appreciate your time this morning. Third in the Republican polls, but you have everybody’s attention this morning. So, where is the money coming from, Governor?” Romney: “Well, frankly, from all over the country. I think from all 50 states. I’m very heartened by the fact that people who have heard my message and have seen me have been willing to part with some money and send it my way. It’s giving us a great boost, a great start, and, of course, it’s very encouraging and heartening to know the message is connecting with people across the country, particularly in the early primary states.” Roberts: “You say the money is coming from all the states. The ‘New York Times’ this morning is reporting that 15 percent of the money raised in your campaign is coming from the state of Utah. Many speculate that it has something to do, of course, with your being a Mormon. Does your, does your religion factor in at all in your campaign and in your fund-raising?” Romney: “Of course not. The number one state is California and I lived, of course, for several years in Utah and helped organize the Olympic games there. So it’s pretty natural that some of the folks who know me there and that are good friends have been supportive of my effort of my effort there. I think this is a campaign about changing Washington. Americans want a person who is willing to make some real dramatic change there and transform government to make it more responsive to the needs of our people, to bring stronger families, better jobs, better schools, better health care. And they’re tired of all the bickering in Washington. They don’t want a life-long politician. They want somebody who will actually bring change.” Roberts: “Many are wondering if you will do, take a page from former President Kennedy, who had addressed the nation about his Catholic upbringing. Do you anticipate, anticipate doing the same?” Romney: “Well, you know, time will tell about that. There’s probably not a single interview I do with you guys that doesn’t raise that issue, so, of course, we talk about it from time to time. But, you know, what I find as I go across the country is the people I talk to want a person of faith to lead the country, but they don’t particularly care what brand of faith the person has, so as long as they have American values and we have shared values. And all you have to do is look at my wife and me and our marriage of 38 years and my family and recognize our values are as American as you’ll find anywhere in this great country.” Roberts: “You– You bring up your, your wife and your children and being married to the same woman for over 30 years. When you say something like that, are you– It’s such contrast, of course, with what is being said about people that you’re running against who have been married multiple times, such as Mayor Giuliani and John McCain. Is your hope that people will see the contrast?” Romney: “Uh, no. I’m hoping that people will understand that the values that I have, and the values that I represent, and the fact that we need to build stronger families in this country with moms and dads raising kids, that they’ll understand that’s something I understand and that my values are very much the American values that are part of any religious tradition, whether it’s my own faith, the Mormon faith, or whether it’s other people’s faiths. We have such common beliefs and such a common view of how to strengthen America that our future could be much brighter. That’s something which I think people are resoundingly responding to, and that is that we need to have an America that bases it’s strength not on a growing government, but on the growing capabilities of America. The real strength of America, the true strength of America is the American people.” Roberts: “Iraq. John McCain is there in Baghdad right now. You have also been very vocal in supporting the President in the troop surge. Yet the American public has lost faith in this war. Do you believe there should be a timetable in withdrawing the troops?” Romney: “Well, there’s no question but that the President and, and Prime Minister al Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about. But those shouldn’t be for public pronouncement. You don’t want the enemy to understand how long they have to wait in the weeds until you’re going to be gone. You want to have a series of things you want to see accomplished in terms of the strength of the Iraqi military and the Iraqi police and the leadership of the Iraqi government. ” Roberts: “So private? You wouldn’t do it publicly. Because the President has said, flat out, that he will veto anything the Congress passes about a timetable for troop, troop withdrawals. As President would you do the same?” Romney: “Well, of course. Could you imagine the setting where, where during the Second World War we said to the Germans, ‘Gee, if we haven’t reached the Rhine by this date, we’ll go home. Or if we haven’t gotten this accomplished, we’ll, we’ll pick up and leave.’ You don’t publish that to your enemy or they simply lie in wait until that time. So, of course you have to work together to create timetables and milestones, but you don’t do that with the, with the opposition.” Romney: “Your message is very strong. ‘The Washington Times’ also says, forgive me, it’s your appearance, that you’re right out of casting central because of your, your appearance and that you’re, they even went so far as to say that your hair is presidential. How do you respond when people talk like that?” Romney: “ It’s kind of funny. I don’t think of it that way, I must admit. But I’ll do my best to comb it straight tomorrow.”