Weigel

The early word on third quarter fundraising numbers: The frontrunners are still the frontrunners, and the Cain surge is only belatedly being matched with money. The numbers we know:

Rick Perry - Around $17 million.

Mitt Romney - "More than $14 million."

Ron Paul - $8 million.

Herman Cain - "North of $2 million." (That's about what he did in the second quarter.)

Cain's campaign claimed to experience a fundraising surge in the days after the last Republican debate; his comments on the haul suggest that the long, hot summer of Bachmania cut into his momentum. She raised $4.2 million in the second quarter, all before her straw poll win -- but after the poll, she collapsed.