# Romney campaign having financial problems **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 21, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399 "2012-09-21T15:09:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/1 "2012-09-21T15:09:04Z")
[It appears they can’t live within their income.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/romney-campaign-hits-a-financal-snag/2012/09/20/b31c568c-0334-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html?wprss=rss_politics) Or couldn’t during the primary season at least. The Obama campaign is outraising them, outspending them, and has nearly twice the cash still in the bank. And yet, Romney, with the most dismal campaign since John Kerry, is handing out bonuses to his top campaign staff, more than $200K this month. Perhaps he’s trying to keep them from abandoning the ship. Anyway, I see all this as being pretty amusing behavior for a theoretical fiscal conservative. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/2 "2012-09-21T15:20:18Z")
But isn’t that the business way? Hand out bonuses despite running the ship onto the rocks. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/3 "2012-09-21T15:25:31Z")
I guess we’ll never teach Mitt about how to take personal responsibility for such things. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/4 "2012-09-21T15:33:55Z")
I wonder how handing out 200k bonuses for the shitty performance to date is doing to sit with future donors. Do you think that this will make folks more likely to send some cash to Romney if they know he’s just going to funnel it to his buddies? It’s pretty typical of some businesses actually. Shovel the cash out the door to the senior executives when you know that the company is going down the shithole. Make sure your buds get their money now, before it’s all gone. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/5 "2012-09-21T15:40:38Z")
Complicating matters for Romney, it seems that [television network ad rates are lowest for ads funded by political campaigns but can be much higher for ads funded by super PACs](http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Sep21.html#item-4). > [@](#): > > Obama’s money strategy has been to raise money for his campaign in small amounts from small donors. Romney’s strategy has been to let billionaires fund superPACs with unlimited donations. On the whole, the two parties are in balance on total funding, with the Republicans raising $736 million to the Democrats’ $774 million. However Obama’s real edge is that he has more money in his campaign treasury than Romney and the actual campaigns, by law, get the lowest advertising rate a television state gives anyone. In contrast, a station can charge a superPAC whatever it thinks it can get away with. Consequently, a campaign dollar actually buys more seconds of television time than a superPAC dollar. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/6 "2012-09-21T16:26:18Z")
I am sure little Mitt can just ask his parents for a loan if he needs an extra couple hundred million. That is how he suggested kids pay for college, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/7 "2012-09-21T16:29:29Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I am sure little Mitt can just ask his parents for a loan if he needs an extra couple hundred million. That is how he suggested kids pay for college, isn’t it? He’ll need to call long distance- they’re both dead. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/8 "2012-09-21T16:46:42Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [It appears they can’t live within their income.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/romney-campaign-hits-a-financal-snag/2012/09/20/b31c568c-0334-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html?wprss=rss_politics) Or couldn’t during the primary season at least. The Obama campaign is outraising them, outspending them, and has nearly twice the cash still in the bank. I don’t know that this is a fair criticism. Obama didn’t have to win a primary campaign, so it kind of stands to reason that he’d spend much less during primary season. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/9 "2012-09-21T16:50:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > He’ll need to call long distance- they’re both dead. Good point. Perhaps those college kids could ask him how to ask for a college loan if their parents were also dead. I am sure there is a way to spin this… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/10 "2012-09-21T16:53:08Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > But isn’t that the business way? Hand out bonuses despite running the ship onto the rocks. You know nothing about business. You hand out bonuses if the ship isn’t on the rocks, and if it is then you hand out bonuses because only the person who put it there can get the ship off. And if the captain is so incompetent that you eventually put him in a lifeboat, you hand him an even bigger bonus. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/11 "2012-09-21T16:55:46Z")
So I am a Romney donor and here is what I know…$200,000 in bonuses and a minimum of 47% of the vote is unattainable…at least according to Romney…losing in the polls…gaffe machine…hmmm, maybe there are some close Senate races I can send my money to instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/12 "2012-09-21T16:58:32Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > You know nothing about business. But a lot about business as it’s actually practiced today. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/13 "2012-09-21T16:58:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > [It appears they can’t live within their income.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/romney-campaign-hits-a-financal-snag/2012/09/20/b31c568c-0334-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html?wprss=rss_politics) Or couldn’t during the primary season at least. The Obama campaign is outraising them, outspending them, and has nearly twice the cash still in the bank. > > And yet, Romney, with the most dismal campaign since John Kerry, is handing out bonuses to his top campaign staff, more than $200K this month. Perhaps he’s trying to keep them from abandoning the ship. > > Anyway, I see all this as being pretty amusing behavior for a theoretical fiscal conservative. I’ve never heard of bonuses being handed out during campaigns before. I thought that the reason people stuck around is to get the plum jobs in the new administration, or else build the connections which can make you money in industry. If Mitt has to hand out bonuses, that can only mean these guys have no expectation of their ever being a Romney administration to get a job in, And they’d know better than us, wouldn’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/14 "2012-09-21T17:06:43Z")
Writing big checks to his friends is [SOP for Mitt](http://gawker.com/5939260/mitt-romney-looted-a-dying-company-for-executive-bonuses-while-it-owed-taxpayers-millions) (while skipping out on taxes, naturalement). The cute thing about this story being on Gawker is the comments are never dull. Sometimes maddening but never dull. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/15 "2012-09-21T17:11:36Z")
I’m confused. I thought Romney was getting a[huge pot of money after the convention.](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443713704577599560735951198.html) Did he manage to spend $165 million in a month? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/16 "2012-09-21T17:12:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > But a lot about business as it’s actually practiced today. Read the rest of his post and all will become clear. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/17 "2012-09-21T18:30:38Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Complicating matters for Romney, it seems that [television network ad rates are lowest for ads funded by political campaigns but can be much higher for ads funded by super PACs](http://www.electoral-vote.com/evp2012/Pres/Maps/Sep21.html#item-4). The System works! ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/18 "2012-09-21T18:33:40Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I am sure little Mitt can just ask his parents for a loan if he needs an extra couple hundred million. That is how he suggested kids pay for college, isn’t it? > [@BobLibDem](#): > > He’ll need to call long distance- they’re both dead. He could wrap some wires around his dad and sell the generted electricity. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-campaign-having-financial-problems/635399/19 "2012-09-21T21:10:17Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > I am sure little Mitt can just ask his parents for a loan if he needs an extra couple hundred million. That is how he suggested kids pay for college, isn’t it? That was how he suggested kids fund their first business. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > He could wrap some wires around his dad and sell the generted electricity. You also need a really big magnet.