A campaign that spends no money?

The Madison mayor's race isn't until next April, but the fundraising race is already underway, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.

The Xoff Files' Madison bureau files this story:

Ray Allen - Republican candidate for mayor of Madison - has now been in the race for 2 whole months. In that time, he has managed to hold his total spending to $750 -- a single payment to someone for consulting services. Nothing for postage, printing, or mailings, although he's had one fundraising event already. It's a miracle ... Allen has discovered the secret to running campaigns without spending money.

This is a probably a good thing for Ray, since he only managed to raise $20k since announcing, and loaned himself another $38k. You'd think he'd be able to do better raising money from those Madison Republican die-hards, who want to save the city from its current "anti-business" mayor.

But seriously -- how can you run a campaign for two whole months without spending a dime on anything except a single payment to a single consultant? There are only two answers: Either (1) he's not reporting expenses he should be reporting or (2) he's not actually doing any campaigning. Neither is a very good answer.

Allen's donor list shows his deep GOP ties -- usually not a plus in Planet Madison, as Mark Green likes to call it.

If Allen has really perfected the technique of running a campaign without spending any money, he should forget running for office and become a campaign consultant. Candidates would beat a path to his door.

AG candidate Paul Bucher, who went backwards in the last six months, raising $136,000 while spending $180,000, should be the first in line.