One of the candidates I find attractive at this early stage of the race for the 2008 GOP nomination is Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. And it looks like he has devised a strategy to line up a lot of early money behind him in advance of formally announcing his campaign -- and well in advance of the primaries.

Governor Mitt Romney is financing the early stages of his potential presidential campaign with a novel, multistate fund-raising operation that is allowing him to maximize legal donations, outflank top Republican competitors, and minimize public scrutiny.

Since July 2004, Romney has set up affiliates of his political action committee, the Commonwealth PAC, in five states. By having donors spread their contributions across the various affiliates, Romney has been able to effectively evade the $5,000-per-donor annual contribution limit that applies only to federal committees, which most presidential aspirants set up to build initial support for their candidacies.

The multistate system is helping Romney raise money quickly from relatively few contributors, and foster valuable political relationships around the country. It also is a strategy several potential opponents for the Republican nomination cannot use: Federal office-holders, under new campaign finance rules, are barred from operating such state affiliates.

That means possible 2008 competitors such as Senators John McCain of Arizona and George Allen of Virginia have to rely solely on their federal PACs and thus cannot accept more than $5,000 from any contributor each year.

``I think it's a brilliant strategy," said Rich Bond, a former Republican National Committee chairman and a McCain supporter. ``It's fully compliant with the law, yet allows Romney to deploy political assets in a comprehensive fashion."

While the methods are different, the tactic of getting large infusions of early money is reminescent of another governor who sought the presidential nod of the GOP a few years back -- then-Gov. george W. Bush of Texas.

And let's be honest -- Romney needs to become more familiar to voters nationwide very quickly. Of particular concern to a segment of the GOP voters is Romney's religion, and this strategy might allow him to become more well-known among the GOP base, defusing the issue if Romney can be seen as "one of us" by groups that are suspicious of his LDS Church connections even as they share a host of values with the overwhelming majority of Mormons. I believe that the gulf can be overcome -- it hasn't been long since Evangelicals were suspicious of Catholic candidates based upon theology, not values.

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Posted by: Greg at 10:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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