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Opinion: Money, money, money... oh, Mitt.

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‘The most reliable friend you can have in American politics [is] ready money.’ So spoke Republican presidential hopeful Phil Gramm in 1995, and he wasn’t kidding. Greenbacks have long been the barometer of the health of a campaign, and recent revelations — that Mitt Romney is ‘suspending’ his campaign, and Hillary Clinton just gave her own bid a $5-million shot in the arm — only serve to emphasize that. Here’s a quick round-up on former and current hopefuls, and how the money talked:

THE DEMOCRATS

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Barack Obama: Obama is breaking all kinds of records — his campaign just announced that it collected $7.2 million in just the two days following Super Tuesday. That’s partly because while the Obama campaign brings in the big donors to rival Clinton’s, he also taps a vast reservoir of people who give in smaller amounts. It’s an interesting indication of the demographics the candidates attract, and a clue as to where the popular momentum is headed.

Hillary Clinton: The erstwhile frontrunner racked up some major wins on Tsunami Tuesday, California included — but not enough to secure a decisive victory. Having to dig into her own pockets makes her campaign look less promising. On the other hand, the Clinton campaign just released numbers that put its post-Tuesday fundraising at $7.5 million.

John Edwards: Poor Edwards. He took the high road, committed to public financing and ran on a fraction of what his main rivals had in the bank. But in the end, the public let this populist presidential hopeful down.

THE REPUBLICANS

Mitt Romney: If using your own cash to beef up your campaign is a bad sign, Romney doomed his presidential bid from the start. The former governor of Massachussetts has poured around $50 million of his personal fortune into his now “suspended” campaign. If I were one of his grandkids, I’d be pretty pissed.

John McCain: McCain got lucky. For months, his campaign had been deemed dead in the water, and money was partly to blame. But when Huckabee’s triumph in Iowa broke the the race wide open, his strategy of focusing what he had on New Hampshire paid off. Mitt Romney’s campaign never really recovered from those twin blows. McCain’s financial picture, on the other hand, has brightened considerably since he began the year with $2.9 million on hand and $4.5 million in debt. McCain raised more than $7 million in the first three weeks in January.

Mike Huckabee: The former governor from Arkansas seems to have broken all the rules, rocketing from the rear of the Republican guard to win the Iowa primaries on a shoestring budget and a brigade of zealous volunteers. The quick-witted, guitar-playing former Baptist minister managed that feat by dining out on overgenerous media coverage — but now, after only a handful of primary wins, the campaign is showing the strain. After running neck-and-neck with McCain for fourth-quarter fundraising, Huckabee has not experienced much fundraising bounce.

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Rudy Giuliani: As proof that money can’t buy everything, Giuliani ended up spending upwards of $50 million — and earned just one delegate. Another warning sign: Weeks before his withdrawal from the race, the media learned that Giuliani campaign staffers had to forgo their paychecks for a month.

Ron Paul: Paul, according to Andrew Malcolm at Top of the Ticket, “drew more donated dollars last quarter than any other Republican,” a total of $19.95 million for the fourth quarter, with another $4.1 million in January. He also outpolled the once-ballyhooed Giuliani in most primaries, raising questions about just who gets to define the term ‘fringe candidate.’ And yet, he hasn’t got a snowball’s chance in hell. Make of that what you will.

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