NEW YORK — Mitt Romney is raking in the money, but he also wants to make sure donors know it's going to good use.
As Romney looks to recover from a slide in polls, his campaign announced that it will raise $5 million on a two-day swing through the tri-state area, National Finance Chairman Spencer Zwick reassured donors that their money isn't going to waste. About $1.5 million of the haul came from a Thursday morning fundraiser at an opulent event hall on Park Avenue.
“We’re going to use the money to win,” Zwick said.
Romney was introduced to the crowd of 620 donors by Emil Henry, the former Assistant Treasury Secretary for Financial Institutions, who listed 10 reasons why donors should be comfortable about the campaign, noting he was glad for the press to be there to hear it.
It included the statement that with Romney on the ticket "there is going to be no October surprise with Mitt, guaranteed.”
After Romney's remarks, Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets and a top fundraiser for Romney came on stage to fire up the audience and keep the dollars coming.
"We’re about half-way through our fundraising, and so if you feel tired now, you gotta go take a couple vitamins because we’re gonna really have a strong push to the finish line," Johnson said.
Romney has raised just shy of $400 million this cycle between his campaign and his joint victory committee with Republican groups.
Johnson held up a copy of the fundraising program which listed donors by rank, saying, “This will show you where you are.”
"This is a little bit like chopping wood," he added. "You look over at your pile, and you can actually see how it looks."