Mitt $$ Spin

There's a difference between raising $5M for the primary and raising $3.5M for the general and $1.5M for the primary.

For one thing -- you can return the unused general election money if you don't make it to the nomination.

So -- and I'm not trying to be smarmy marmy here, it's probably fairly easy for Romney's supporters to fork up a donation they anticipate getting back.

Comments

lol

We made the maximum donation yesterday to Romney's General Election Fund, and I certainly do not expect to get it back.

Mitt Romney is going to win this thing, and is already in the lead in electoral votes (over three times McCain) and popular votes and has won one state outright.

Michigan is coming.

Posted by Jed Merrill | January 10, 2008 10:54 AM

Mitt's been running on his own money for weeks now, so does it even matter?

http://political-buzz.com/2008/01/10/a-long-years-journey-into-night/

Posted by matt | January 10, 2008 11:22 AM

Hello, Marc-

I have a McCain-focused site, and so naturally I found the post about Mitt's fundraising to be intriguing. I agree with your post, that Mitt's donors are more likely to give if there's a strong chance that it will be returned to them if Mitt does not win the nomination.

The entire thing seemed to be a way to remind everyone that his donors aren't abandoning him. However, the fact that the majority of the money can't be used until the general election seems to reflect one fact - that many of his donors are already maxed out for the primary. Moreover, money for the general election isn't what Mitt needs right now. What he needs is money to continue within the nomination process.

Thoughts, anyone?

Posted by ElectionNightHQ.com Publisher | January 10, 2008 11:33 AM

And .....do I recall how the MSM and Rudy rarely parsed primary and general money in sharing his totals.....Mitt was always ahead of him in primary money....but nobody cared and gave Rudy the headlines because of his total.....

Posted by Abe | January 10, 2008 12:46 PM

This all sound great, but the fact is Romney still raises money even after coming in second twice.

Huckabee after wining Iowa only raised $350,000 that was a pitiful showing!!!

McCain lets see what he brings in. My guess is that it will not come close to Romney amount.

The question that should be asked is:

Will McCain take matching funds??

Posted by Brian | January 10, 2008 12:49 PM

Maybe I'm looking through my pro-Mitt goggles here, but I actually find the general election # more positive for Mitt. People actually believe he can win. Maybe some made the decision to contribute because they knew they could get it back, but as someone who contributed, I didn't know I could get anything back until well after I made the decision to contribute. Getting money back meant nothing to me, believing Mitt should win did.

Posted by Mike | January 10, 2008 12:50 PM

"Posted by Jed Merrill | January 10, 2008 10:54 AM"

Did anyone check out Jed's website? It's possibly the funniest thing I've seen yet in this election season. Not intentionally funny, of course.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | January 10, 2008 1:28 PM

Thanks for the substantive commentary Moe. Unmasked derision is unbecoming. Don't be a dick. Please. Let's not forget the 'please.'

Posted by Bryan | January 10, 2008 1:38 PM

What is happening now is people are realizing that they get McCain or Huckabee now that Mitt is out and its turning stomachs. Mitt stands a chance when tonight the GOP realizes (crossed-fingers) that Huck and McCain don't represent core ideals in the GOP. Mitt might have evolved, but at least he has evolved and I think calling him duplicitous is a stretch.

Posted by Mike | January 10, 2008 2:03 PM

Alright Marc, what the hell happened? You had done a such a good job of avoiding the sliming until recent weeks. Did that cynic Sullivan slip something in your drink?

Mitt is the guy that can manage a campaign without running it into the ground after few months. And he can still raise cash, which is a lot better than stacking a Michigan rally with students.

And as hard as Forbes, McCain and that jerk MCQUAID tried, Mitt leads the race.

I love how "media organizations" and their political friends can exploit McCain-Fiengold to trash the character of honest people.

--snip--
By JOSEPH W. MCQUAID
New Hampshire Union Leader Publisher
Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS for supporters of Mitt Romney: A man has survived a 47-story fall from a New York skyscraper. So anything is possible.

Now the bad news: Judd Gregg was right. New Hampshire still picks Presidents.

Posted by mikeVA | January 10, 2008 2:16 PM

Yesterday I read about the "huge cash influx" of over a million dollars after Hillary won New Hampshire. You can minimize the general election funds Romney got, but the primary funds he secured are undeniably compelling as evidence that he is far from done.

And the idea that people donate to a campaign merely because they think the campaign will fail and they'll get the money back is one of the most singularly stupid thoughts I've seen expressed on this blog.

Posted by CoachNY | January 10, 2008 2:38 PM