Buddy Roemer highlights Romney's flip-flop on campaign finance reform

Long-shot Republican presidential candidate Buddy Roemer released a video on Sunday comparing the Mitt Romney of 1994 to the Mitt Romney of 2011.

The video shows Romney lamenting the influence of money in politics and calling for campaign spending limits during his 1994 bid for the U.S. Senate. The one day governor of Massachusetts and Republican presidential candidate went so far as to say he supported abolishing Political Action Committees (PACS) -- private groups that help elect candidates.

"I am personally of the belief that money plays a much more important role in what is done in Washington than we believe," Romney says in the clip. "I personally believe that when campaigns spend the kind of money they are now spending [...] I think that's wrong."

"To get that kind of money you've got to cozy up to all of the special interest groups, who can go out and raise money for you from their members," he continues. "And that kind of relationship has an influence on the way you're going to vote. These kind of associations between money and politics in my view are wrong."

His views at the time were similar to the present-day "Occupy Wall Street" movement -- a movement he has as "dangerous."

The video notes that Romney has spent more than $17 million on his current 2012 presidential campaign and has three so-called "Super PACS," which can collect an unlimited amount of money from any source.

Roemer's video also explains that a mysterious company was formed, donated $1 million to one of Romney's Super PACs and then dissolved itself within a matter of months.

The video was released along with Roemer's “Anti-Corruption in Washington, D.C. Pledge.” As part of his presidential campaign, Roemer has stressed the need for campaign finance reform. He has vowed to only accept campaign contributions under $100.

“Whenever anyone asks me if I should first get elected before I go about changing the system, I tell them that’s the worst way to create change," Roemer said in a statement. "It never happens. My campaign is about showing that you can run clean, you can run with integrity, and you can keep your promises. I challenge Mitt Romney and every candidate for federal office to stand up for something more important than their own election."

He was the governor of Louisiana from 1988 to 1992 and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1988. Roemer was a Democrat until 1991, when he switched the Republican Party.

After his time in government, he founded Business First Bank.

Roemer is not the only one to have released video highlighting Romney's flip-flops. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has also released scathing ads attacking Romney for changing positions on political issues.

Watch video, uploaded to YouTube by Roemer's campaign, below:

Photo credit: Tom LeGro