Mann: Money talks in Republican presidential primaries
By Jonathan Mann, CNN
updated 12:29 PM EST, Wed February 1, 2012
Republican Mitt Romney cemented his frontrunner status with his victory in the Florida presidential primary on Tuesday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Republican Mitt Romney cements frontrunner status with victory in Florida presidential primary
- Romney gets 46% of vote, compared to 32% for Newt Gingrich and 13% for Rick Santorum
- Romney and his supporters collected nearly $90 million for his campaign by end of 2011, report says
(CNN) -- Mitt Romney moved another big step closer to the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency this week: a very competent candidate with a stunning amount of cash and a court ruling that will keep the funds flowing.
"Napoleon said god is on the side of big battalions. Voters are usually on the side of big money," said CNN political analyst Paul Begala.
Romney got the support of 46 percent of Republican voters in the Florida primary election, the latest of the state-by-state votes leading to the contest against Barack Obama in November. Former lawmaker Newt Gingrich came in second with 32 percent. Two other candidates in the race were far behind.
How does campaign finance compare around the world?
What exactly are Super PACs?
Super PACs dominating politics
The power of Super PACs
Romney is a polished public speaker who ran for president four years ago and has spent the time since carefully preparing to do it again.
He's also a multi-millionaire who seems to be a magnet for money. One report by Reuters news agency suggests he and his supporters collected nearly $90 million for his campaign by the end of 2011, with the campaign barely under way. By comparison, the Gingrich camp raised just under $15 million.
The U.S. is one of many democracies that have tried to keep money from buying elections. But this is the first presidential election to be affected by a relatively new ruling by the country's Supreme Court.
The court ruled in 2010 that organizations known as Super Political Action Committees, or Super-PACs, have a right to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections as long as they stay independent of the candidates.
Hundreds of Super PACs have quickly sprung up, baking both Republicans and Democrats. In Florida, they reportedly spent even more than the presidential candidates did.
"When you have that much money washing around campaigns, there will be scandals," said Senator John McCain, who defeated Romney four years ago for the Republican presidential nomination but is backing him this time.
Federal officials predict that this year's elections to the White House, Congress and state offices could involve $11 billion in spending.
Even without any big scandals so far, that's an awful lot of uncontrolled cash.
Part of complete coverage on
Get all the latest news in Campaign 2012 at CNN's Election Center. There's the latest news, a delegate counter and much more.
updated 3:41 PM EDT, Wed May 23, 2012
Dark theories about President Barack Obama's citizenship show no signs of fading away. But "birthers," as those skeptics of Obama's heritage are known, no longer seem relegated to tinfoil hat fringes of American politics.
updated 1:10 PM EDT, Fri May 25, 2012
Wanted: A political attack dog ready to tear into President Barack Obama. Must play by team rules, be able to withstand the pressure of a presidential campaign and pass a rigorous vetting process.
updated 5:30 AM EDT, Fri May 18, 2012
Brinksmanship tactics from both major parties are not new -- in fact, they are all too commonplace on both sides in this Congress as the value of the compromise among moderate voices has all but disappeared. And it appears many voters want it that way.
updated 11:02 AM EDT, Thu May 24, 2012
Over the next several generations, the wave of minority voters -- who, according to the Census, now represent more than half of the nation's population born in the past year -- will become more of a power base in places like Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
updated 11:33 AM EDT, Wed May 23, 2012
Obama and Romney are two very different candidates joined by similar, yet hollow, attacks on their faith. Those attacks illustrate the intense mix of identity politics simmering just beneath the surface of the presidential race.
With the Republican presidential race all but over, the focus shifts to presumptive nominee Mitt Romney's choice of a running mate. Here's a list of those who have generated some buzz.
updated 10:57 AM EDT, Mon May 21, 2012
They had the money. They had the organization. They had the ballot access. What they were missing, however, was a candidate.
updated 8:06 PM EDT, Thu May 10, 2012
If you weren't lucky enough to win a seat at the table for dinner tonight with George Clooney and President Barack Obama, fear not. You may still have a chance to party with the president and a celebrity or two in the near future.
updated 12:23 PM EDT, Fri May 11, 2012
With Mitt Romney's victories in the April 24 Republican primaries, a new phase of the campaign began at Obama re-election headquarters in Chicago. After a year spent hiring staff and building an organization, Obama for America finally had what it had been waiting for: an opponent.
updated 8:42 PM EDT, Tue April 24, 2012
With student loan rates set to double in July, President Obama is using the issue to try to recapture the elusive youth vote.
Steps by both political parties to court younger voters proved it's the youth voting bloc's turn to come under the national spotlight, attention that will continue through the November general election.
Famed pastor Joel Osteen reiterated his position that Mitt Romney is a Christian, saying as long as the likely GOP presidential nominee believes that Jesus is the Son of God then he subscribes to the Christian faith.
updated 2:52 PM EDT, Mon April 16, 2012
This presidential election tells us something unexpected about American politics. It appears that both parties will have pragmatic problem-solvers at the top of their tickets.
updated 2:36 PM EDT, Fri March 30, 2012
Another major conservative figure backs Mitt Romney, adding to chorus calling for the divisive GOP nomination battle to come to an end.
Track who's up and who's down with the freshest national polls on the CNN Polling Center.
Most popular stories right now
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|