Mitt's money machine
Text 
No Comments [ Add Comment ]F
ormer Massachusetts governor and 2002 Olympics savior Mitt Romney's primary qualification for the job of president is that he's an above-average businessman. And we do mean above average: He's worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
But Romney's business acumen suddenly has his opponents alleging squishy ethics regarding a fundraising plan. Romney has recruited college students to raise money for his campaign on a commission basis -- 10 percent on all money raised in excess of $1,000.
But the complaints seem to be coming mainly from established fundraisers -- the people who do this for a living, some of whom also earn part or all of their income via commissions. First off, they don't like the 10 percent, since 8 percent is apparently the standard rate. Some believe fundraisers should work for a predetermined salary. And, anyway, they contend, college students should be working for campaigns on a volunteer basis, not for money.
We disagree. It looks to us like Romney's simply injecting his own philosophy of market-driven success into his campaign. And we don't see much difference between professional fundraisers -- the people who are well-practiced at shaking the political money trees -- and college students raising funds. Why is it OK for the professional class to do it, and not those who are still in school?
Furthermore, it's not like the college students -- there are Students for Mitt chapters at Brigham Young University and BYU-Idaho, in addition to others in Boston, Denver and Phoenix -- will be doing this without revealing their capitalistic motives. In order to make any commissions, donors will have to enter the fundraisers' codes and ID's on donation forms. So it's all above-board.
Frankly, if this helps get more young people involved in the political process, we see that as a good thing -- whether it's Romney or any other Republican or Democratic candidate getting their attention and their help.
The thing that's risky about this fundraising methodology is that it makes even more apparent the fact that running for president is at least as much about money as it is about good ideas and leadership skills. Our assumption, though, is that everyone knows that already.
Romney's landed on a novel approach to collecting money for his White House campaign. Good for him.
Add Your Comment
