Those Poor Romney Staffers

John Edwards's $400 haircuts are by now yesterday's news, thanks to the Times's David Kirkpatrick, who brings such scrutiny, for the first quarter, to the full field (Slate's John Dickerson provides a cheat sheet):

Romney, who is by far the richest candidate, was stingiest with his staff members’ salaries, often having them fly discount airlines and stay in accommodations as humble as a Super 8 Motel in Parsippany, NJ. “We put a premium on efficiency,” said spokesman Kevin Madden. Recalling a trip for the campaign's official announcement in Michigan, he said, “We tripled up in a hotel suite—one of those cheaper ones.”

McCain’s campaign, which is burning through money, of which it has the least among the GOP frontrunners, had the highest-paid staff of any campaign in either party. Nine earned more than $25,000, including strategists Michael Dennehy, whose $51,925 made him the highest-paid staffer on any campaign, and Terry Nelson, who raked in $36,173.

Giuliani, the capitalist candidate, boasts the best-paid top staffers: seven exceeded the $25K threshold, and campaign manager, Mike DuHaime, garnered more than any of his counterparts ($44,375).

Hillary remunerated only three employees more than $25,000 (the real prize being working in Hillaryworld), but reported $154,000 in unpaid bills to her media adviser, Mandy Grunwald, and $277,000 to her main political adviser, Mark Penn.

Obama’s only aide to net more than $25K was his grossly undercompensated finance director, Julianna Smoot. She made $26,099 and oversaw $24.8 million in primary fund-raising.