The regimen of campaign contribution regulation is so full of holes that it often resembles a game of whack-a-mole for losers.

A Boston Globe scoop on the 2009-10 fund-raising of Mitt Romney’s undeclared campaign for president sheds light on one more loophole that makes the original impulse appear pointless.

The Romney campaign operates a “leadership PAC” called “Free and Strong America.” Leadership PACs are set up by most crypto-candidates for the presidency set up so they can raise funds to cover their political activities and attempt to buy the friendship of politicians around the country by funneling money to their campaigns. The basic scheme is now standard operating procedure and no one bothers to call it a legalized fraud against the intention of campaign finance regulations.

In theory and by letter of the law, an individual is limited to giving $5,000 per cycle to this kind of “leadership PAC.” So how did two close relatives of Marriott chairman J.W. Marriott Jr. (his wife and his brother) manage to give $215,000 to the Romney operation, according to public records reviewed by the Globe?

Well it turns out that a “leadership PAC” can set up state affiliates. The state affiliates are supposedly intended so the undeclared presidential candidate can “contribute” to candidates or causes within the particular state.

An individual donor can give to as many of the state affiliates as he or she chooses and the rules of the state affiliates are set by the states themselves. “Free and Strong America” has a lot of state affiliates and the Marriotts and other friends of Mitt have given to many of them.

You’re starting to get the picture. At $5,000 per contributor, it would take 200 donors, each maxing out, to raise $1 million. But thanks to the ability of a donor to give to any or all of the state affiliates, the Globe reported:

“Romney raised more than $1.5 million from just 38 individuals in 2009 and 2010, more than double the combined donations of the rest of the prospective GOP field.“

Thanks for the requirements of so-called journalistic objectivity, the Globe piece included this hilarious paragraph:

“Critics say Romney and the other contenders are using state loopholes to circumvent the spirit of federal limits. Romney’s team said the system is proper and open for public inspection.”

And then this quote from Andrea Saul, who was spokeswoman for the state Romney committees and is now working for Romney’s “exploratory” committee.

“Free and Strong America PAC follows both the letter and spirit of the law.’’

She's apparently right about the letter of the law. But I’d be interested to know more about what she thinks was the spirit of that particular regulation limiting an individual to $5,000 per cycle.

Nonetheless, in my own nod to fairness/balance, here is the video Romney released last week when he announced his "exploratory" candidacy: