Palin Hauls in Nearly $500k In Just Over a Month

I wrote "Can Palin Win the 2012 GOP Nomination?" in July 2009, when Sarah Palin stepped down as Governor of Alaska. She was the "it girl" back then as much as she is now, which is amazing considering how much has happened since then. But one of the points I raised on Palin's chances for the 2012 nomintion was campaign finance:

Palin's two biggest goals can be summed up thus: Iowa and New Hampshire. Politically, Palin needs money. Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama raised $100 million in 2007, the year leading into the primaries. The "entry fee" for the 2012 primaries will probably be twice that.

I expected Palin to be a blockuster fundraiser, and it's happening. See Jay Newton-Small (via Memeorandum):

Sarah Palin raised $469,000 between Oct. 13 and Nov. 22 bringing her total for the year to over $3 million, Tim Crawford, SarahPAC's treasurer, told TIME exclusively. Crawford attributed the surge of funds to energy surrounding the midterm elections, Palin's endorsements and her TLC reality show “Sarah Palin's Alaska.” Her second book, America By Heart, came out Nov. 23.

The PAC spent $64,000 buying advance copies of her books, “just as we did last year” with her first book, Going Rogue, Crawford said. “They're a great fundraising tool for us.” Palin is in the midst of a two-week cross-country book tour.

Overall the PAC spent $581,000 between Oct. 13 and Nov. 22. ...