US presidenital polls: Romney uses secretive data mining to raise funds

Mitt Romney's success in raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the costliest US presidential race ever can be traced in part to a secretive data mining project that sifts through Americans' personal information, including their purchasing history and church attendance, to identify new and likely wealthy donors.

The fate of the election might depend on who raises more money. In a tight race, Romney and the Republicans have raised more money than President Barack Obama's re-election effort for the past three months.

For the data mining project, Romney has quietly employed since at least June a little-known but successful analytics firm that previously performed marketing work for a colleague tied to Bain & Co, the management-consulting firm Romney once led.

The head of Buxton Co of Texas, chief executive Tom Buxton, confirmed to the AP his company's efforts to help Romney identify rich and previously untapped Republican donors.

The effort by Romney appears to be the first example of a political campaign using such extensive data analysis. The Romney campaign declined to discuss on the record its work with Buxton or the project's overall success.

There are no records of payments to Buxton from Romney's campaign, the Republican National Committee or a joint fundraising committee.

Under federal law, companies cannot use corporate money or resources, such as proprietary data analysis, for in-kind contributions to campaigns.

Buxton said he's working for the Romney campaign because he wants "to be on the winning team."

Buxton once worked with a former Romney business partner to provide insights, for example, about where the company Petco should open a new pet-supply store to maximise profits.

In addition to Buxton, the data mining project was described to the AP by a Romney fundraiser who spoke on condition of anonymity because the fundraiser did not want to face repercussions for describing internal campaign processes.

Businesses use such analytics firms to answer key questions for clients, such as where to build a retail store or where to mail pamphlets touting a new product.

The analysis doesn't directly bring in campaign contributions, but it generates the equivalent of sales leads for Romney's campaign.