Opinion: Mitt Romney backs GOP stimulus detractors with his PAC money

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In case you thought Mitt Romney had left the political scene for good, think again.

His last unsuccessful effort for the GOP presidential nomination ended in surrender to John McCain almost exactly a year ago after Romney had invested some $41 million of his money and more than that in donations from others.

But anytime you see these guys like Romney, and more recently Gov. Sarah Palin, create their own PACs to support like-minded politicians (and their own political forays), they’re also creating a financial means to accumulate owsies from those fellow party members they help for use down the road.

Then Sen. Hillary Clinton sent a last-minute e-mail fundraising blast to her vast donor lists just before Nov. 4 to round up funds for Democratic candidates like Mark Begich, who won the Alaska Senate seat and will forever feel fondly toward the current secretary of State.

Today, as ABC’s perceptive Rick Klein notes, Romney’s PAC -- Free and Strong America -- donated $1,000 each to 11 Republican congressmen targeted in a retaliatory ad campaign by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee for voting against President Obama’s economic stimulus bill. Romney praised the Republicans as ‘standing up for fiscal responsibility and saying no to spending abuse.’

This as the president, speaking to the nation’s governors gathered at the White House, was suggesting that opposition to parts of his spending bill was politically motivated. ‘There’s going to be ample time for campaigns down the road,’ The Ticket quoted him as saying earlier today.

So opposition to the spending bill is politically motivated. As opposed to opposition to the opposition to the spending bill, which surely is pure-minded, well-meaning and just plain OK.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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