Romney advisor: Money has bearing on the ability to beat President Obama

Mitt Romney Senior Advisor Jim Talent discusses the GOP delegate race and Santorum’s ability to raise money.

Talent says, “[John McCain] lost 19 states and he won the nomination. You know, when you have a contest with a number of people in it, you’re not going to win everywhere…. So, we’re going to go now to Puerto Rico, Missouri, and Illinois. I expect to do well in those states as well.”

When CNN Contributor Will Cain asks him if the votes from Mississippi and Alabama were virtually meaningless to campaign, Talent responds, “No, they’re very meaningful. We needed votes to get delegates. I mean, once you get past the initial stage of the primary, so it’s not shut down early, and given the process this year, that was going to be the case, because as you know, so many are back-end loaded, then you have to get to the total that you have to get to. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re really running against the delegate total more than against the others. And by that standard, we’re doing really well. I mean, we won more delegates than anybody else won yesterday.”

On campaign financing, Talent states, “…If you can’t raise any money, it has a bearing on whether you’re a good candidate and whether you can beat Barack Obama. It’s all part of being a good candidate, having an organization, having a strong message, being energetic on the stump, raising money. And this is the national campaign that is moving towards the nomination. I mean, we’re doing as well or better than McCain did four years ago. Like I said, we’re doing better than four or five months ago I thought we would do in the South, at least as well as we expected.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs week mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.