http://www.boston.com/news/politics/president/articles/2005/02/13/romney_campaign_coffers_growing?mode=PFRomney campaign coffers growing
Two accounts aimed at broader US reach
By Frank Phillips, Globe Staff | February 13, 2005
Governor Mitt Romney has assembled a substantial fund-raising operation over the last two-plus years that encompasses five separate campaign accounts, including two funds clearly aimed at helping him win political allies outside Massachusetts in the event he chooses to run for president in 2008. The network comprises the Commonwealth PAC, which distributed money to politicians in 16 states last year, the Republican Governors Association campaign account, which Romney will help control when 36 states have governor's races in the 2006 election cycle, two separate state Republican Party accounts, and Romney's personal campaign account.
Together, the five accounts linked to Romney raised about $6.6 million in 2004, a total that includes about $1 million in Massachusetts-based donations that went into the multimillion-dollar Republican Governors Association account. The money is a fraction of the estimated $182 million raised by John F. Kerry's campaign for president as of last summer, but at this early point in a presidential campaign, strategists often focus on creating a list of donors rather than collecting large amounts of money.
The network reveals an operation possibly under construction for a national campaign, even as Romney aides insist that he is consumed with his job as governor and giving no thought to running for president. His aides and supporters said in interviews that his involvement outside the state has been thrust upon him, and that Romney's interest in developing the fund-raising operations stems from his desire to help Massachusetts gain influence in a Republican-controlled Congress and White House. "Governor Romney is increasingly being called on to help his party," said his communications director, Eric Fehrnstrom. "He is a leader nationally, and people are excited about the success he is having in Massachusetts. A major benefit of his rising national profile is that it enables him to do more for Massachusetts."
A Globe analysis has found that executives from a handful of Massachusetts-based corporations, including Bain Capital, Fidelity Investments, and several smaller venture capital firms, form the base of the Romney operation. Many of the donors have contributed to at least two of the accounts since Romney took office in early 2003. Avi Nelson, a Republican activist and former US Senate candidate, said Romney's financial moves had never been previously seen in Massachusetts politics. He attributed this to Romney's bringing his private-sector expertise into the political arena. "Nobody has done it before," Nelson said. "It just wasn't done. I give Romney credit for coming up with new ways of doing things in politics that are important for the doing. It is natural he would think of creative ways, now that he is in the public sector."
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