Romney seeks new angle on fund-raising

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Putting a new twist on the race to raise money, Mitt Romney's national finance director is asking supporters to "sponsor" one of the candidate's television commercials in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Florida.

"You don't want to miss your chance to elect Governor Mitt Romney," Spencer Zwick writes in an email released by the campaign today. "The ad you sponsor could be the one that puts Governor Romney over the top!"

The email directs supporters to the "One Million Dollar Media Victory Fund" page on Romney’s website, which asks them to donate as little as $80 to run one of Romney’s ads in Iowa to as much as $1,275 to air one in New Hampshire.

The email is meant to look like it was forwarded casually from an email that a Romney donor named Josh Sato sent to his "entire Rolodex." The subject line is "FW: Mitt’s Campaign" and includes the text of Sato's email.

"The race in Iowa and the other early states is neck and neck," Sato wrote. "I'm feeling anxious…Iowa is just one month away! I emailed the campaign to see what I can do to help. See their response below, and please consider joining me by supporting the Media Victory Fund today."

Romney, a multimillionaire former venture capitalist, has outspent his rivals in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two early-voting states he is counting on to vault him to victories in bigger, delegate-rich states. But Zwick writes, "The clock is ticking, and Mitt is counting on us."