Republicans slow to raise funds for 2012

WASHINGTON, May 8 (UPI) -- The Republican fundraising machine has been notably slow to gear up for the 2012 election, party insiders say.

Only former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts has assembled a top-tier lineup of "bundlers," the well-connected figures who sign on to raise hundreds of thousands from their business, political and friendship networks, The New York Times reports.

Many fundraisers are still uncommitted, which in turn is holding potential candidates back from declaring.

Presidential hopefuls "want to have more tangible evidence that the support will be there if they start out," said Al Cardenas, a former Florida GOP chief and current head of the American Conservative Union. "Then there are the donors who don't yet have a candidate; they're being more cautious."

Brian Ballard, the Florida finance chairman for Sen. John McCain's 2008 campaign, is among the uncommitted and says, "It's not at the top of the agenda for most folks right now."

At this point in 2007, Republican candidates had already raised more than $50 million. But at the end of this year's first quarter, only one major aspirant, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, even had an exploratory committee to raise funds.