Is the Times Afraid of Mitt Romney?
Reporter David Kirkpatrick's "Romney Used His Wealth To Enlist Richest Donors" Friday put a slightly sinister spin on the fundraising efforts of former Massachusetts governor and current Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, including donations from - gasp! - Mormons (Romney is a Mormon).
"But soon after he was elected governor of Massachusetts, Mr. Romney turned into a fund-raising machine, setting up a series of federal and state political action committees that together let individual donors give far more than the federal campaign spending limits.
"To fill them, Mr. Romney turned in part to connections in the tight-knit world of wealthy fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Of the roughly 450 people who have given the $5,000 maximum allowed annually to his federal political action committee, about a quarter are from Utah, the center of the Mormon church. And of his top eight donors, four - J. Willard Marriott Jr. and his brother, Richard Marriott, the hotel executives; Jon M. Huntsman Sr., the plastics mogul; and L. E. Simmons, the software chief executive - are Mormons who each gave more than $100,000, according to data compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics."
Ed Morrissey at the Captain's Quarters blog looked at the Times' obsession with Romney's wealth: "The New York Times appears willing to damn Romney for being rich and both using his own money for his presidential campaign and not using his own money for his presidential campaign. In seeking to explain Romney's success at fundraising, David Kirkpatrick doesn't give Romney much benefit of the doubt." Morrissey added: "The entire article makes it look like the Times has begun to fear Romney's success."
