The (Hidden) GOP Money Primary Begins

摘要

Before they announce their candidacies, plant a yard sign, or rent storefront space in Des Moines, Republican Presidential hopefuls, including former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, are building high-powered fundraising teams. Every four years a number of preliminary contests "occur before a single vote is cast," says former Representative Bill Paxon of New York, and "the most important of those is for the major fundraisers." Paxon, a senior adviser at law and lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, will support Barbour, should he run.