Romney seen boasting DC ties, federal dollars in 2002 video

Video showing Mitt Romney boasting about his ties to Washington insiders and his prowess for channeling federal dollars to local projects has his opponents in both parties crying hypocrisy.

In the video, shot by Democrats during his 2002 gubernatorial race and aired Friday by ABC News, Romney tells a local business group of his track record with securing sources of federal funding.

“I'm a big believer in getting money where the money is, and the money’s in Washington,” Romney said.

As the head of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Romney said, he helped steer more than $410 million to the games, exceeding any previous sum and targeting every possible agency.

“I’ve learned from my Olympic experience, if you have people who really understand how Washington works, and have personal connections there, you can get money to help build economic development projects.”

Romney’s opponents immediately charged Romney with hypocrisy for attacking others — most notably Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich — for supporting earmark spending after lobbying for those dollars himself. The charge has been one of Romney’s central attacks against Santorum as he works to paint himself as the true fiscal conservative.

"Mitt Romney lobbied for earmarks, boasted that he got more earmarks than anyone in history, but then attacks others for earmarks,” said Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley. “Mitt Romney bragged about using his great Washington-Insider establishment connections to get record-setting amounts of earmarks — but then attacks others for being insiders.”

Democrats dispatched the head of the state party in Pennsylvania, where Santorum served as a senator, to hit Romney as someone who will say anything to get elected. And the Democratic National Committee quickly clipped together a Web video contrasting Romney denouncing earmarks, spending and “Washington insiders” with the recently uncovered video.

Romney’s campaign said Romney had done what all governors do, pointing out that he supports permanently banning earmarks and calling them "a symbol of what's wrong with Washington."

"Every state budget in the country is dependent on federal funding, and every governor in the country makes requests for funding, but governors do not get to decide how Congress appropriates money," said Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.

Watch the video:

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