Romney and his money II

OPINION:

Mitt Romney’s “press shop,” which has refused to divulge how much of his personal wealth Mr. Romney has funneled to the campaign since September, triumphantly announced Wednesday that “National Call Day 2008” raised $5 million. Declaring that his campaign has “some great momentum” following his huge losses to Mike Huckabee in Iowa and John McCain in New Hampshire, Mr. Romney said, “The success of today’s events shows a continued belief that I am the only Republican candidate who can match up against the Democrats in the fall.” We don’t quite understand the logic, especially given the fact that 70 percent of the $5 million came from people who had already “maxed-out” for the primaries. Rather than using his “great momentum” to cultivate new donors, Mr. Romney has been reaching deeper into the same well, the same way he has dug deeper into his own pockets.

In fact, compared to an impressive $20.8 million raised from individuals during last year’s first quarter, the three-month totals for individual contributions declined precipitously during both the second ($13.9 million) and third ($9.2 million) quarters of 2007. Meanwhile, his campaign’s expenditures increased from $11.6 million in the first quarter to $20.7 million in the second and $21.3 million in the third. Mr. Romney helped to offset the huge cash-flow deficits (the difference between campaign expenditures and contributions from individuals) of $6.8 million in the second quarter and $11.6 million in the third by transferring an additional $15 million from his own bank account to his campaign during the April-September period. Throughout the first nine months of 2007, the Romney campaign spent $53.6 million, which was $25 million more than the McCain campaign spent and $52 million more than the Huckabee campaign spent.

After Mr. Romney dug deeper and deeper into his own pockets to finance an unprecedented media blitz throughout 2007, The Washington Post estimated that his campaign spent $238 for each vote he received in Iowa alone. We have know way of knowing how much of that $238 came from Mr. Romney’s pockets because he has, so far, refused to tell voters how much he has contributed to his campaign since Sept. 30.

Mr. Romney owes it to the very people he is asking to vote for him to be forthcoming about how much of his personal fortune he is donating to his campaign.