Yet the Republican committee's strong cash numbers suggest that relatively weak fund-raising by Mr. Romney will quickly improve as the primaries wind down, diminishing Mr. Obama's advantage.
Like many of the A.C.L.U.'s smaller state affiliates, South Carolina has long struggled with weak fund-raising, staff turnover and other problems.
Despite a weak fund-raising season, Republicans ended the first half of the year with more than $10 million on hand, substantially more than the Democrats.
Those problems include years of operating with deficits, the effects of the global economic crisis, weak fund-raising coupled with unrealistic goals, the draw down of its endowment, and the turbulent and brief tenure of Mr. Steel's predecessor, Gerard Mortier.
Six weeks ago Ms. Pirro ended her race against Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton after weak fund-raising and some gaffes, notably her 32 seconds of fumbling on live television looking for a page from her speech.
In a number of states where Republicans have been hopeful of picking up a seat, they are being hampered by some of the same dynamics that vexed their party in 2008, including trouble recruiting strong and experienced candidates, intraparty fighting, weak fund-raising and the very same anti-incumbent sentiment that also threatens Democrats.
Mr. McCain had pursued a meticulous and dogged turnaround effort: his second bid for the White House was in tatters last summer because of weak fund-raising and a blurred political message, leading him to fire senior advisers and refocus his energy on New Hampshire.
Two New Jersey colleges want to increase tuition by 10percentt, saying they need to find a way to make up for weak funding.
Weak funds may also be prompted to throw in the towel by the increased costs of complying with new regulations, such as those requiring them to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Note: Strong funds have a more equal distribution of economics and weak funds tend to have skewed economics to a bunch of people at the top who don't add much value.
A spring slowdown is not unprecedented: in 2008, April and May were Mr. Obama's weakest fund-raising months.
