Extended Race Could Pose Financial Challenges for Romney The ticking sound you hear in the background of the Republican presidential primary is the fund-raising clock. The longer the four Republican hopefuls battle one another, the less time the eventual nominee will have to build a war chest to compete with the advertising assault expected from President Obama's re-election team. See the article Thursday by the Times's Jeff Zeleny and Jim Rutenberg. The financial woes apply to all of the Republican candidates, but perhaps none more so than Mitt Romney, whose campaign is partly built on the idea that he would have the financial resources to stand up to Mr. Obama in the fall. That is still likely to be true. The Republican money machine will gear up this summer for Mr. Romney if he is the nominee, helped by "super PACs" that are already stockpiling cash to be ready to battle Mr. Obama when the time comes. And the Republican Party will be at Mr. Romney's disposal as soon as he is the clear nominee. But the period from late spring until the national convention at the end of the summer could be a difficult period as Mr. Romney - or whoever the nominee is - has to begin building a national campaign organization. That process takes time, and money. In the spring of 2008, Senator John McCain's campaign struggled to keep up with Mr. Obama's fund-raising juggernaut. Mr. McCain turned to the Republican National Committee for logistical and financial help. Mr. Romney will likely do the same if he becomes the nominee. And the super PACs - which weren't around four years ago - will try to ride to his rescue by buying plenty of ads to counter Mr. Obama. But like it did for Mr. McCain, that means a loss of control. Super PACs are not allowed to coordinate their messages with a candidate or a campaign. So relying on them is risky for Mr. Romney, who would also need to spend time crafting a summertime message that appeals to independents and swing voters. Mr. Romney is clearly aware of the challenge. His campaign has set aside plenty of time in the weeks ahead for fund-raising in an attempt to pad his campaign coffers. Mr. Romney is seeking big-time donations for a Washington fund-raiser this month, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by The Caucus. Mr. Romney's campaign is asking wealthy supporters to collect $10,000 for a table of 10 people for a breakfast reception at the Hyatt Regency hosted by Mr. Romney's backers in Congress. In the meantime, the primary battle between Mr. Romney and his rivals continues, draining cash for all of them. And the clock keeps ticking.