To give you some idea of how Mitt Romney ruined two election cycles, in 2008 he not only raised the first big funds, but he made it clear that he would spend his own money, and he did spend about 45 million dollars of his own.
Having his own money multiplied it's value because he did not have ups and downs between fund raising and didn't hit slumps, instead he could access his wealth when needed, to keep his vast machine running smoothly and with no lay offs or hiccups, or loss of spending and advertising momentum.
Poor McCain and Huckabee were left with nothing much/most of the time, and were just alone and staying in cheap hotels at times.
Obviously, money isn't everything, which is something to remember when Jeb starts bringing in the truck loads of cash.
I can’t wait to see how 50 million will play against Hillary’s goal of 1.5 Billion. Grant it, she needs a billion, since she is an empty suit. Cruz won’t need money for that reason, but 50 million is a joke. Heck, fifteen years ago, Hillary spent 25 million to win a senate seat in NY. That would triple today.
I think Ted has set the impossibly low goal for our consumption, so that when he blows the top out of that goal, and we will be ecstatic. He needs more than 50 million.