Like him or hate him, you have got to give the former Massachusetts governor his due -- he can raise money with the best of them. Romney collected $300,000 for his Free and Strong America PAC in March, bringing his total fundraising for the organization to more than $870,000 for the year. Romney will, without doubt, set the pace for the 2012 Republican presidential field -- the standard by which all cash-collection for GOPers will be measured.
(ea) Back in February, Romney earned major media play for his $1,000 checks to the "Undaunted Dozen", a group of House Republicans under attack for their support of the stimulus.
But later, Ken Vogel found Mitt wasn't exactly spending all that money on the candidates for which the PAC is ostensibly intended*.
This year, it’s [The PAC] spent $10,000 on travel, $74,000 on staff salaries and benefits and $118,000 on consulting, including $20,000 for “strategy consulting” to Beth Myers, who ran his unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign, and $10,000 to Peter Flaherty, who was a key advisor to the campaign.
Those payments dwarf the $16,000 it contributed to candidates.
*At the time, a Romney spokesman noted that Mitt's Free and Strong America PAC didn't exist merely for the purpose of contributing to conservative candidates, but primarily to sustain Romney's efforts on behalf of the candidates.
Is that what you get from Free and Strong's website?
Free and Strong America PAC, through its Honorary Chairman, Mitt Romney, supports officeholders and candidates who are dedicated to promoting public policies that will strengthen America at this critical time in our history.....
These problems can be tackled with innovation, determination, and a commitment to our nation’s founding principles. Mitt Romney's Free and Strong America PAC will work tirelessly to help elect candidates who share these principles and are prepared to take on the challenge of keeping America free and strong.
Together with the candidates we support, and with the help of the American people, we will ensure that this great nation remains – as it always has been – the beacon of freedom and hope of the world.
