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Campaign Trail

Romney hosts mega donors at Utah retreat

David Gura Jun 22, 2012
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Campaign Trail

Romney hosts mega donors at Utah retreat

David Gura Jun 22, 2012
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Jeremy Hobson: Now to the Presidential Race. Mitt Romney is gonna be in Park City Utah this weekend hosting an event for some of his biggest donors. Romney is reportedly on track to raise $100 million this month alone, which could be more than President Obama raises.

Marketplace’s David Gura reports from Washington.


David Gura: Here’s what you need to know to understand this story, and it’s no big secret:

Bert Johnson: Romney has done will with big donors. He has consistently done well with big donors.

Bert Johnson teaches political science at Middlebury College. Romney’s got buddies in business, he’s a good fundraiser — and so far, that’s paid off. But Johnson says Romney hasn’t been as successful with small donors.

Johnson: Small donors do indicate a wider base of enthusiasm.

And harnessing that kind of donor helped candidate Obama become President Obama, back in 2008. But the dynamics have changed since then — we’ve got super PACs now. And if 2008 was the year of the small donor, maybe this is the year of the big one.

Bob Biersack is with the Center for Responsive Politics, and he says to keep things in perspective.

Bob Biersack: We haven’t seen big dramatic numbers for the DNC perhaps, in every reporting period, but when you add it all together, they’ve done pretty well.             

The way money works in elections is pretty consistent over time, Biersack says. And there’s a lot of time left until Election Day.

In Washington, I’m David Gura for Marketplace.

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