Opinion: Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney use the power of PACs to stump

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The also-rans continue to run, thanks to the magic of political action committees.

Hillary Clinton is traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles today holding fundraisers on behalf of her party’s presidential nominee, Barack Obama. Mitt Romney was in Nevada last week and continues to travel the country often on behalf of his party’s nominee, John McCain.

No longer candidates, they’re now surrogates. To pay their way, they’re using money raised in $5,000 increments in their political action committees.

After spending $105 million, including $44.6 million of his own money, on a failed effort to capture the GOP presidential nomination, Romney created Free and Strong America, a political action committee to help McCain and other Republicans win on Nov. 4.

He has raised $1.56 million, spent $1.1 million and had $474,000 in the bank, according to the latest Federal Election Commission reports filed last month.

Clinton jump-started her HillPAC after she ended her presidential campaign in June. She raised $670,000 and spent $476,300 this summer, and ended August with $201,000 in the bank. Clinton spent $220 million on her losing campaign, not counting nearly $10 million in unpaid presidential campaign bills, plus $13.1 million she loaned her campaign.

Romney and Clinton each are relying on presidential campaign donors to pay for their latest undertakings. Romney is collecting $5,000 from friends from his investment days, as well as newer backers including cattle rancher and racehorse owner John Harris of Harris Ranch in Coalinga.

Clinton has received $5,000 from Hollywood figures including Cheryl Saban, Berry Gordy and Clarence Avant.

Also giving are wealthy San Franciscans including Susie Tomkins Buell, her husband Mark Buell and Walter Shorenstein, along with Brian Greenspun, a longtime Clinton friend who owns the Las Vegas Sun and is a board member of Tribune Co., which owns the Los Angeles Times.

In an interview today, Greenspun said he continues to give to Clinton because she is one of the most “able Americans and politicians in this country.” As such, he said, she does a better job than he could of deciding which candidates are worthy of support.

“I trust her and I trust her judgment, and if I could give her more money, I would,” he said.

-- Dan Morain