TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Romney's Advantage: Wealth

ADVERTISEMENT

By JIM KUHNHENN, The Associated Press

Published: October 6, 2007

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney once said financing his own campaign would be a 'nightmare.' Writing checks, he said this week, is 'painful.'

Yet, it doesn't seem to be stopping him.

Romney is his presidential campaign's most generous supporter, lending $17.5 million from his personal fortune so far. His Republican rivals are bracing themselves for him to do it again. And again.

Romney is hardly the first presidential candidate to cut himself a check: Steve Forbes and Ross Perot spent far more than he has. The Massachusetts businessman-turned-politician, who can raise money and open his wallet, may have the best chance to win the presidency, though.

The former Massachusetts governor has two more shots at testing what his money can do to supplement his campaign's finances and help him win the GOP nomination. The first is during the 90 days left before the early presidential contests of Iowa and New Hampshire. If he survives those, he can spend again in the last weeks of January before the make-or-break primaries in Florida, New York, California and New Jersey.

'The Romney strategy is very clear: Win Iowa, get a bounce to New Hampshire, win New Hampshire and write yourself a check for the Feb. 5 states and start advertising,' said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican strategist who has worked on presidential campaigns but is unaffiliated this election.

If Romney writes himself a sizable check in January, his spending might be evident, but the size of his contribution would not be a public record until mid-February, well after the nomination is likely to be sewn up. That could protect Romney from voters who would object to a candidate 'buying' the nomination.

Jennifer A. Steen, a political scientist at Boston College who has written extensively on self-financed candidates, said the public doesn't care if a wealthy candidate writes his campaign checks.

'What I've noticed is that it has been terribly frustrating for opponents of self-financers that their own outrage at self-financing is not shared by the voters,' Steen said

Compared with candidates like Forbes and Perot, Romney is a piker. Perot pumped $63 million into his failed 1992 presidential contest. Forbes contributed about $38 million in each of his unsuccessful White House bids, in 1996 and 2000.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT