And the ads cost plenty - the personal resources of rich candidates.

The cost was indeed so great that there were not even enough rich and unsuitable candidates to buy up the nominations.

Actually, Romney is the richest candidate in the race with some $200M of his own money.

Over the last decade, victory has increasingly gone to the richest candidate.

At one time, there were outcries in the press and from the opposition about rich candidates trying to buy office.

"A rich candidate would not be attractive;" Teddy said, then reached for yet another button.

The lessons have not been lost on the national parties, which are increasingly trying to recruit rich candidates who will agree to finance their campaigns.

"And that's a shame, because the overwhelming majority of rich, self-financing candidates lose."

"I hope the lesson from all this isn't that you've just got to have a rich candidate," he said.

But even these bonuses could not make up for a rich candidate who spends beyond the limits controlling other candidates.