'Harvard Faculty Lounge' Gives Mitt Romney More Than $56,000 In Donations

With Reporting By Paul Blumenthal

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney's routine castigation of the President Obama-"Harvard faculty lounge" nexus has always rung a bit hollow, considering the former Massachusetts governor's own ties to the university.

Romney holds degrees from Harvard's law and business schools. Three of his children have attended Harvard Business School. And Harvard faculty members advise his campaign. He's also been a continuous beneficiary of Harvard faculty donations.

A review of campaign finance records shows that since 2002, Romney has received more than $56,000 in donations from people who either serve as, or are married to, professors at Harvard University. One of those donating (during both Romney's first presidential run and his current White House bid) was Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School who also co-founded the Monitor Group, a consulting firm that came under fire for the work it did on behalf of now-former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The Romney campaign didn't respond to a request for comment. But it stands to reason that if his personal ties to Harvard University haven't compelled him to drop that specific line of attack against Obama, revelations of the donations he's received from the institution's faculty members won't either.

Romney initially chastised Obama for taking on a foreign policy posture that seemed drawn from the mindset of the "Harvard faculty lounge" and not the battlefield. He followed that up this past Thursday during a speech in Florida.

UPDATE: The American Bridge, a Democratic non-government research group, sends over two more anecdotes that further complicate Romney's digs at Obama's Harvard roots. The former Massachusetts Governor has turned to Harvard Business School graduate and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman to help trumpet his job creation proposals, even quoting her in the plan itself.

Romney also gave $50,000 to the Harvard Business School in 2003, according to IRS filings -- underscoring either how much he actually values the institution from which he graduated or illustrating how deeply he wanted to maintain good relations with the university at the time.

Comments

[Freedland]

10:44 AM on 10/03/2011

If Harvard is a bastion of liberalism, why would they donate funds to the Romney campaign and assist in advising him.? We know why Harvard accepts his contributions. Romney was recently quoted defending his numerous changes of position (flip-flopping) by quoting Winston Churchill who said, "When the facts change, so do I, Ma'm". The problem is that he was quoting the economist John Maynard Keynes so his advisors need to do more fact checking. He even flip flops on flip flopping. By the way, Michael Porter is not just a Harvard professor and consultant but the author of two of the best selling business books in history (Competitive Strategy and Competitive Advantage) that have made him very wealthy.

[c15stars]

12:40 AM on 09/29/2011

With Obama, If everyone in the United States just pays for his Ins. They won't be fined or go to jail. So all is good. And Ron is bad...Not

[ywcachieve]

10:12 AM on 09/28/2011

Romney is a dull, boring, flip-flopping, stalk of celery.

http://obamaachievements.org/list

[Seattlelite]

12:14 PM on 09/27/2011

Just another example of why people can't warm up to Romney. There is just NOTHING authentic about this man.

[cariintexas]

11:53 AM on 09/27/2011

If anyone doesn't like what Romney says in the morning, hang around because he will say the opposite in the afternoon.

[The Right is Wrong]

10:39 AM on 09/27/2011

Repugs, one and all, SUCK!

[cdish]

10:19 AM on 09/27/2011

Why has Harvard been sitting in the wings for so long while American Finances are falling apart. Don't they care enough to come out of their lecture halls and help save America?

[rebasfl]

10:02 AM on 09/27/2011

I'm struck by how the mainstream media portrays Romney as an unfavorable candidate almost
every time he's story lined. They are afraid of him. He's the only candidate who gets supported
by the ' independents' and beats Obama. They're obviously worried.

[mas1956]

08:36 PM on 09/27/2011

Just like the attacks change here when a new poll comes out. The last two weeks was a Perry bash-fest. Perry has dropped back so now it's back to Romney. Not only that, the bashing of Romney is so weak, it's really fun to watch which lib will come up with the most lame attack. You want to know who is up in the polls? Come here and see who is the headliner.

[cdish]

09:35 AM on 09/27/2011

If I could stop it I would, but I can't. The Republican Party is going to implode as long as they keep letting fools run for President. I strongly urge the RNC to recruit a candidate that is intouch with all of America. If I have to watch another debate where candidates act like children and stand at the podium and take cheap shots at one another, I'LL PUKE! GROW UP!

[The Right is Wrong]

10:40 AM on 09/27/2011

And the audience acts like idiots!

[Andy Svoboda]

09:20 AM on 09/27/2011

dum dum dum dum dum!

[Americanium]

09:00 AM on 09/27/2011

Mitt didn't do anything wrong here.. the Harvard people are the suck ups... they are the ones who should be ashamed for giving money to a person who criticizes them... unless Mitt is being correct in his criticism...

[Fogcatcher]

08:44 PM on 09/27/2011

He took away some of Obama's money....people are waking up.....

[media sux]

08:53 PM on 09/27/2011

Reuters today reported that Obama's well on Wall Street is going dry too.

This is an ex-president walking

[Bellla]

08:58 AM on 09/27/2011

I think most of the Repoublikan candidates are fascist lunatics but I really dislike Romney, not just politically, but personally (we met as teenagers in the cult). He can't be trusted to serve anybody but himself or the freakin' cult he belongs to. Don't let him get away with ANYTHING. The man doesn't deserve to be POTUS, period. His out and out lies offend me.

[TexianLife]

08:35 AM on 09/27/2011

GOP & Hypocrisy walk hand in hand. lol

[Progressivismsux]

08:27 AM on 09/27/2011

The Obama impeachment hearings for Obama are coming soon:-)

[blurredmolly]

08:43 AM on 09/27/2011

for what? making Weepin' Johnny weep?

[plazmaorb]

09:39 AM on 09/27/2011

How are you guys going to try and impeach him? whats the excuse? cause you dont like blackdudes?

[Ezio]

08:21 AM on 09/27/2011

He must not get along with a lot of people in the faculty lounge.