At the time, Mr. Vilsack criticized the campaign as a process that rewarded intense fund-raising over innovative ideas.
After about two months of intense fund-raising and growing attention from the news media, St. Anthony has raised $350,000 toward its goal.
He then began an intense fund-raising effort, teaming with with Ms. Van de Kamp, the chairwoman of the Music Center at the time.
What is particularly surprising is that this one-month total, which the campaign was eager to preview on Thursday, is coming after a year of intense fund-raising by Democratic candidates, who have far outraised their Republican counterparts.
Mr. Reynolds chose a critical moment to tap a vast fund-raising network he has put together since arriving in Congress a little more than four years ago: President Bush's re-election campaign is scrambling to amass the largest treasury in history, a goal that has, in turn, set off an intense fund-raising competition among the president's most-loyal supporters.
How much such steps could mitigate novelty's disadvantage in today's intense funding competition is unclear.
Mitt Romney's cash advantage over President Obama and the Democrats more than doubled in July, as intense Republican fund-raising and heavy spending by Mr. Obama and his allies left Mr. Romney and the Republican National Committee with $62 million more in the bank than the Democrats at the end of last month.
However, demand for rapid spread was intense yet funding was limited.
Pressure from investors to perform better will be intense for hedge fund managers heading into 2016.
The Ashcroft money has been used to fund intense campaigns in marginal seats before the election spending limits came into force in January.
The intense scrutiny of fund-raisers has not escaped the notice of State Senator Thomas Kean Jr. of Union County, who has emerged as one of the Republican Party's most persistent advocates of electoral and campaign finance reform.
