Mitt's Blitz

British propaganda poster

For 76 consecutive nights in 1940-41, the German Luftwaffe blitzed London in an effort to shatter England’s wartime resolve. The strategy—had it succeeded—might have compelled the English to choose one of two humiliating options: voluntary surrender or complete and total destruction.  

History, of course, tells of the tactic’s failure. In spite of its perceived advantages, overwhelming force couldn’t supplant the English’s stubborn perseverance. More than seventy years later—and many analogical degrees away—Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s looming advertising blitz inches closer to Wisconsin.

In fact, I witnessed one rogue attack ad in the Milwaukee market already. It must have overshot the wealthiest Chicago suburbs and crash-landed on the opposite side of the state line. (Let’s hope that it at least stopped at the I-94 tollbooth first.)

According to Propublica’s PAC Track—say that five times fast!—the Mitt Romney-affiliated Restore Our Future committee has spent more than $35 million trying to defeat his Republican opponents this primary season.

That $35 million, by the way, is more than the PACs supporting New Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, and Jon Huntsman have spent combined.

And the Restore Our Future blitz is quickly heading Wisconsin’s way.

The latest estimates out of Illinois—whose primary will be held next Tuesday, March 20—demonstrate the enormous disparity between Romney’s spending and his opponents'. With almost a week to go before polls open in Illinois, Romney’s Restore Our Future PAC has dumped more than $2 million in the Land of Lincoln. The next closest, Gingrich’s Winning Our Future, has spent a paltry $17,000. For ease of comparison, that's about 131 times more money.

Oh. And it’s all going into attack ads, too.

In the hotly-contested Florida primary earlier this year, Romney’s Restore Our Future PAC spent $11 million. Just seven percent of that money went into bolstering Mitt Romney’s candidacy. Restore Our Future spent 92% of its advertising blasting Newt Gingrich’s record.

Michigan? A mountain of attack against Gingrich and Santorum—to the tune of 98%—and a molehill of support (two percent) for Romney.

Ohio? A dash for Romney—one percent!—and a shovelful for his opponents. (Apparently there’s another 99% worth talking about, huh?)

The facts are clear. Mitt Romney believes that the path to the Republican nomination winds through the political graveyards of those standing against him. Barring some catastrophe, Romney will ultimately clinch his party’s nomination for president this summer, and there’s no reason to believe that his Restore Our Future PAC—which seems more interested in razing than restoration—will treat a general election campaign against President Obama any differently.

Before all of that, however, we’ll likely have our own opportunity to witness the mittzkrieg here in Wisconsin.

And we should all do our best to remember the English, who taught us that no assault, however concerted and overwhelming, can last forever. 

Nor, for that matter, will it ultimately succeed.