Former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney's campaign is flush with cash--his own. He has lent his campaign $17.5 million from his own substantial fortune.

Buying the presidency is nothing new. But Romney must be surprised that he's having to dig deep into his pockets this early in the game. Jim Kuhnhenn of the AP writes,

This year, Romney's personal contributions have been increasing as his fundraising has been declining. In the first quarter, he lent his campaign $2 million. In the next three months, he put in $6.85 million. This summer, he contributed $8.5 million. Meanwhile, his donations dropped from $21 million in the first three months to $10 million this past quarter.

In an article in which Newsweek "discovered" Romney, the Newsweek reporters made much of his business acumen when they weren't nosing into his Mormonism.* They noted that Romney knew how to make wise investments while he was at Bain Capital. He should hope that he is his own wisest investment.

*Bostonist is way more concerned about the fact that he dug the movie Battlefield Earth.

Image mashup by Caroline Roberts.