A brief history of disastrous self-financed campaigns

DOLLAR DOLLAR BILLS, Y'ALL Hillary's $5 million investment in her campaign spells trouble (Photo: Getty Images)

True, self-financing did wonders for Michael Bloomberg, who spent a reported $148 million on his two New York City mayoral campaigns, but experts say that paying your own way is never ideal, and is usually a last resort. As Jennifer A. Steen, a professor at Boston College and author of a book on self-financed congressional runs, told the Washington Post in 2000: "Self-financers usually don't win. When they do, it isn't their money alone that puts them in office."

Still, win or lose, there's certainly entertainment value in watching the Steve Forbeses of the world fritter away millions in hopes of winning votes from unwashed wage slaves. Below, Radar's roundup of self-financed candidates who broke the bank, and then broke down.

KISS ME, I'M POWER HUNGRY! Ross Perot hugs retired U.S Navy captain (and extreme patriot) Ed Grunwald (Photo: Getty Images)

Along with being the most successful third-party presidential candidate of the modern era, Ross Perot is the patron saint of self-financing. Despite being regarded in some circles as completely insane, the Texas billionaire managed to garner 19 percent of the vote against Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush in the 1992 race. Running as an independent who hated NAFTA, liked guns, thought abortion was just fine, and used folksy slogans like, "It's broke, let's fix it," Perot was the kind of nativist who would normally attract some small support. He also dumped in $63.2 million of his own money. In 1996, Perot ran again, but on a much tighter budget—he only spent $8 million, which resulted in 8 percent of the vote—a much better return than the first go round.

Having retreated entirely from public life, Perot resurfaced in January for a brief conversation with Newsweek's Jonathan Alter. He was under the impression that Barack Obama was a Muslim, and slammed John McCain for once referring to him as a "fruitcake."

Total Amount Spent: $71.2 million
Cost Per Vote: $2.56

CALIFORNIA CHEDDA' Michael Huffington, pictured with then-wife Arianna (Photo: Getty Images)

A House seat isn't usually all that expensive. It was just $545,000 in 1993, Fortune magazine estimated, not long after Michael Huffington spent an impressive $5.6 million in a bid to buy his own. Huffington, a Texas transplant to the central coast of California, was then married to Greek-born columnist Arianna Huffington—at the time she was also a right-winger. Soon after buying the most expensive congressional seat in history, Huffington launched the most expensive senatorial campaign in history.

Huffington spent at least $30 million—about a third of his net worth—against incumbent democrat Diane Feinstein, who had filled the seat via a special election in 1992. Feinstein told the New York Times that she sensed trouble when she saw a one-minute Huffington ad during the winter Olympics in February—more than a little early. She wound up funding some portion of her own $14 million campaign, and edged out Huffington by a scant 1.9 percent. At the end of it all, Huffington, who ran as an upper-management conservative, didn't get a tremendous return on his investment.

In the years that followed Mike's defeat, the Huffingtons both transformed: Arianna into the leftie we know and love, and who founded the Huffington Post, and Michael into an out-of-the-closet bisexual. In an Esquire profile, he said he never wanted to win the election and he was glad he'd lost. Arianna ran for governor in California's 2003 recall election. Michael supported Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Total Amount Spent: $30 million
Cost Per Vote: $7.86

MILLION DOLLAR MAN Forbes, in 1999, gets his microphone checked (Photo: Getty Images)

In 1996, business publisher Steve Forbes spent around $37.4 million on a run for the Republican presidential nomination. He was also notable for blinking much faster than any human being should, and for advocating a flat tax that would save some cash for everyone, but mostly millionaires. Forbes did well in a few early states, including Delaware and Arizona, but collected just 76 delegates before dropping out after Super Tuesday.

In 2000, despite skepticism from the Washington Post that Forbes would choose to liquidate enough assets to do it again, he managed to spend between $32 and $39 million (depending on whether you trust the New York Times or NPR). This time, Forbes pulled the plug after losing in Delaware, where he finished behind John McCain—who hadn't campaigned in the state at all.

Total Amount Spent: $69.4 million to $76.4 million
Cost Per Vote: $36.08 to $40.04

TOTAL CAMPAIGN COST: $38 million Al Checchi kissing a baby: Priceless (Photo: Getty Images)

Hot on the heels of Michael Huffington, Al Checchi showed up to prove that it was possible to spend a ludicrous amount of money without even getting to the general election. Vowing that he would spend "whatever it takes" to secure the nomination, the former cochair of Northwest Airlines managed to spend nearly $40 million in about 36 weeks.

Checchi had never held public office, and his early prospects seemed dim on the suspicion that Senator Dianne Feinstein would enter the race. She never did, and the primary turned into a three-way between Checchi, congresswoman Jane Harman, and eventual nominee Gray Davis. Checchi's campaign did well on the strength of his ads, but once he began trading blows with Harmon, whose $20 million campaign was partially financed by her husband, his numbers began to fall. Despite spending more money on his campaign than all of his opponents combined ($72 million), Checchi only received 13 percent of the vote.He wound up with only 13 percent of the vote. Davis, whose $12 million was fully financed by donors, won with 35 percent.

Of course, Davis inherited that whole burgeoning energy crisis—partially the result of deregulation during the Pete Wilson era—that resulted in his being pulled from office in a 2003 recall. Checchi might have dodged a bullet on this one.

Total Amount Spent: $38,928,244
Cost Per Vote: $57.08

HULL AND VOID Blair Hull's political woes had nothing to do with money (Photo: Getty Images)

Blair Hull's campaign made a strong start. A political newcomer, he had the good sense to face relatively obscure opponents. He was also smart enough to be rich, having pocketed a few hundred million when Goldman Sachs bought his firm for $531 million in 1999. Early in the season, Hull launched an expensive TV-based campaign, and he was perceived to be a front-runner with a bit more than a month to the primary.

Then Hull ran into a major roadblock. It wasn't state senator Barack Obama, who won that seven-way race with 52 percent of the vote, but rather his ex-wife's allegations of domestic violence. The couple's divorce papers were unsealed, revealing accusations that Hull had punched Brenda Sexton in the shin, called her a "fucking cunt" and, while hanging from her canopy bed said, "Do you want to die? I am going to kill you."

Hull responded with more ads, claiming that the allegations were "only about money." Illinois democratic voters largely found this unappealing, though 10 percent still voted for him. Hull currently manages a private investment firm.

Total Amount Spent: $28,658,890
Cost Per Vote: $213.15

JOE, SCHMO Ned Lamont, who took the democratic nomination from Senator Joe Lieberman at no small cost (Photo: Getty Images)

Though he's better known for taking the democratic nomination from incumbent Joe Lieberman, Ned Lamont spent more in 2006 than any candidate for an U.S. office.

Lieberman—long a hawkish, right-wing democrat—was inherently vulnerable in the primary, and Lamont won with an investment of just a few million. This, however, did not rid him of the senator, as Lieberman decided to run as an independent (a scenario Lamont had tried to prevent by promising to endorse Lieberman if he lost, and asking that Lieberman do the same).

All manners of garbage started flying, with democratic operatives at one point trying to get Lieberman stripped of the Connecticut democratic party rolls. Ironically, Lamont—who was heavily supported by moveon.org and the Daily Kos crowd—probably lost because of the lack of a real Republican challenger. The Republican, Alan Schlesinger, was revealed to have gambled in casinos under a fake name, and by August he was polling as low as 2 percent. Lieberman beat Lamont by 10 points, taking a massive share of Republican and independent votes.

Total Amount Spent: $17 million
Cost Per Vote: $37.71

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES Next time, just send us a check (Photo: Getty Images)

Despite picking up the nickname "Mittens" during the primary season, voters ultimately found Mitt Romney's hugely expensive campaign less than adorable. Romney, a management multimillionaire, entered the race as something of a favorite, and even after disappointing results in Iowa and New Hampshire, he remained the candidate with the most support from abrasive talk-show hosts.

Romney was worth about $200 million at the start of the race, and he'd flushed away about a sixth of it before Republican voters persuaded him to stop the bleeding by doing something very unexpected: voting for John McCain. Romney dropped out following an embarrassing loss in West Virginia, the result of McCain asking his supporters to caucus for Mike Huckabee in order to prevent a Romney win.

Based on various accounts, Romney poured between $35 and $40 million of his own cash into the race. That would put his cost per delegate (to date) somewhere in the $263,000 to $300,700 range.

As of February 6, the Washington Post calculated that the Romney campaign as a whole (including not only the candidate's financing, but also the money given by donors) may have spent more than $1 million per delegate. That rate that would have put the cost of the nod at over $1 billion.

Total Amount Spent: $35 million
Cost Per Delegate: $260,000 to $300,000
Cost Per Vote: $7.92