Getting Richer From the Romney Campaign

So the Romney campaign didn't get to set off their planned fireworks display over Boston Harbor on election night, and their transition website's instructions on how to apply for jobs in the Romneyryan administration have been terminated.  There were stories Thursday that the campaign organization collapsed so quickly that staff expecting to charge their cab rides home to the campaign discovered their credit cards had already been cancelled. There were stories also about the non-political future of Mitt Romney.

But I wouldn't waste a lot of tears on them.  Some of those who aren't multi-millionaires may well have become so as a result of the campaign.  For there was this underreported truth: for them, a presidential campaign was just another business opportunity.  And considering the billions spent in far and away the most expensive campaign in history, it was a big business opportunity.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the Romney campaign "has directed $134.2 million to political firms with business ties to his senior staff. Nine firms that are run by, or recently employed, top Romney aides have received almost a third of the $435.8 million that Romney's campaign and a related fundraising committee have spent on operating expenses through Oct. 17, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.

To a certain extent and at a certain level, this is a business for everybody concerned (the Obama campaign spent a measly $5.8 million on consultant fees to firms with ties to its senior strategists, the LA Times said) but the Romney campaign made the most of this business opportunity in which literally billions of dollars were raised and spent:

The campaign finance reports show that this year's presidential race has created a huge economic stimulus package for campaign operatives, whose total payday is often undisclosed.

Ryan Williams, a Romney spokesman, said payments to firms with connections to staff members were not only for consulting, but also were used to purchase a variety of services, including "polling, video production, political mail, get-out-the-vote phones, online advertising, website development, and budget and compliance management, among other things." He declined to break down the specific amounts.

An examination of finance reports shows that Romney and Obama both lean on trusted advisors to provide major services, such as media, polling and direct mail. But the Romney campaign has gone further, building its operations around a small group of companies that are either run by senior campaign aides or had employed them until they joined the campaign.

All this is in addition to the millions of dollars used for television and radio advertising, much of which the Romney campaign funnelled through the companies of campaign staff.  You have to guess that superpac and dark money was likely also paid to the same people and companies.

So don't weep for them, America.  Romney provided two bonuses we know of to senior staff during the course of the campaign.  And to make sure no money-making opportunity was missed, right at the end of the campaign, the Romney campaign became the first ever known to charge reporters and news organization for access to their campaign headquarters on election night.

Andy Borowitz headlined a post-election post: Nation Spends $2.5. Billion on Nothing.  Well, it was more than $2.5 billion. And it wasn't on nothing--while it cost us donors, it enriched some people, apparently none more than Romney's. Losing feels bad, but making a killing from the campaign itself must take away a lot of the sting.