The Daily Background

If the way Mitt Romeney has been conducting his campaign sheds any light on how the former Massachusetts governor might be as a president, Republicans who support him may need to take a second look at the candidate who claims he is not a “tax and spender.”

Aside from the McCain campaign’s famously-fast burn rate which has led the 70 year old’s campaign into anemic finances, Romney seems to have spent the most amount of money of all the candidates, according to FEC filings due to be released on Monday. Romney has far outdistanced other candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in early ad spending, and has seen an improvement in his Iowa and New Hampshire polling as a result. Still, Romney’s tendency to throw money out the window is raising some eyebrows.

Romney, who raised just over $14 million over the second quarter (which ended June 30th), tossed in an additional 6.5 mil from his own checkbook. Although ordinary people are only allowed to donate $2,300 to a campaign per contest (another $2,300 can be donated for the general election), candidates can donate as much money as they like to finance their own campaigns. Romney’s sizable donation this quarter, when added to the chunk of cash he threw in in the first quarter totals almost $9M.

Romney has spent nearly $21 million this year, of the $44.4 he has raised overall. His expenditures have been so high that he now has less cash on hand than Rudy Giuliani, whose campaign raised more than 12 million dollars less this year, according to FEC records.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog