Sneak Peek: Raising Money and Dropping Jaws

October 3, 2007— -- It was big news when Hillary Clinton's campaign announced yesterday that it raised $27 million in the third quarter fundraising period yesterday. She had far outpaced her Democratic rivals and for the first time, raised more money in a filing period than Barack Obama.

Today's jaw-dropping fundraising announcement isn't quite $27 million but considering who raised it…it's just as newsworthy.

ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf reports that Ron Paul, the Republican Libertarian ob-gyn from Texas, announced today that his campaign raised $5,080,000 in the third quarter. This is more than double his second quarter figure of $2.4 million and no small sum for an insurgent campaign, Wolf reports.

Consider this:

Paul's Q3 figure is five times what was raised in the same period by Mike Huckabee, who is considered by some political pundits to be a candidate with the most potential to gain ground on the current frontrunnersIt puts Paul in the same fundraising neighborhood as top-tier Republican candidates like John McCain, who still has not released his third quarter numbers yet

To be absolutely clear: Paul's fundraising this quarter not only outpaces Huckabee, but also Democrats Chirs Dodd and Joe Biden. He was only $2 million behind former Sen. John Edwards, who Vegas odds folks still have in great shape to win the whole thing!

For your latest on the state of the presidential race -- tune into tonight's "World News with Charles Gibson" for the latest ABC News/Washington Post 2008 general election poll.
On the campaign trail. . .

Mitt Romney has a full plate in New Hampshire. He starts his day by meeting Presstek Inc. employees in Hudson at 8:45 am ET and then heads to an "Ask Mitt Anything" even at Saint Anselm College in Manchester at 10:00 am ET. He stays in Manchester for economy-focused "Ask Mitt Anything" at 12:15 pm ET. Next up is a 1:45 pm ET meeting with residents of Derry before a final "Ask Mitt Anything" stop in Merrimack.

John McCain addresses the Pawleys Island Rotary at 1:00 pm ET in Pawleys Island, SC. McCain speaks at a 5:30 pm ET cocktail reception on the opening of the Defending the American Dream Summit in Washington, DC.