Romney Donates $17.4 Million to Campaign

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney is breaking fundraising records, but that may not be good news for his campaign. Specifically, he is out-pacing Steve Forbes, who, in 2000, donated $38.7 million dollars of his personal fortune in a filed bid to become the Republican nominee.

To date, Mr. Romney has poured in $17.4 million into his own coffers (not including the purchase of a $61,435 Winnebago known as the Mitt Mobile). That's a higher rate than the $16.5 million Forbes infused in the first nine months of the 2000 campaign.

Though the numbers seem high, the Romneys may not exactly be feeling in a pinch. At an estimated net worth of $250 million, there's every indication that the former Massachusetts governor may indeed break the mark set by Steve Forbes.

So how do you spin the fact that you are your campaign's largest donor? From ABC News:

He [Romney] painted his campaign contributions as an indication he was his own man. "I'm not beholden to any particular group for getting me into this race or for getting me elected," he said. "My family, that's the only one I'm really beholden to--they're the ones who let their inheritance slip away, dollar by dollar."