GOP candidates face cash crunch

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- With widespread disappointment with the field of Republican U.S. presidential hopefuls, GOP campaigns have been plagued with lukewarm fund-raising returns.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has pulled television advertising in two key states. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's senior staffers are forgoing their monthly paycheck in January and he has pulled campaign workers from states he's written off.

Even former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the Iowa Republican caucuses, has fallen short of his fund-raising goals, The Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Pundits say one clear indicator of Democrats' advantage in November is that after winning the pivotal New Hampshire primary, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., raked in more than $6 million in cash and pledges in a matter of days.

Meanwhile, the GOP's New Hampshire winner, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, raised less than $1 million, the newspaper reported.

Republican campaign's financial woes are blamed partly on GOP voters' lack of enthusiasm over their candidate field.

"Whatever happens, there is a general belief among Republicans that they are going to lose," said Thomas Mann, a political analyst at the Brookings Institution. "That certainly shows up in fundraising."