Mitt Romney has spent $41.9 million less of his own money in this campaign

Although John McCain beat Mitt Romney soundly to win the Republican nomination for president four years ago, Romney did have some success, winning nine states in primaries and caucuses (Mike Huckabee took 8 states). Republicans say that Romney was considered the alternative to McCain, which earned him a lot of votes. Now that he's the mainstream moderate, well, you've seen what's happened this go around.

Whether or not he makes it to Tampa as the nominee, he still remains the best positioned candidate based on his fundraising and campaign infrastructure.

One noticeable difference between this time around and four years ago is how much money Romney is spending out of his own pocket this time around. The difference is pretty radical.

This article appears in Feb 16-22, 2012.