The rise of the super PAC has been one of the defining trends of the 2012 election. These non-campaign organizations which, thanks in part to the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, can raise and spend unlimited amounts influencing elections have had a staggering impact on how candidates and campaigns get their messages to voters.
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With 91 percent of campaign ads in Mississippi and Alabama in the past month funded by super PACs, Americans have one thing to say to these political spending monsters: Get off my TV. A new poll finds that the majority of all Americans and registered voters alike say super PACs, the non-campaign organizations that can
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It’s not just NASCAR.  Mitt Romney’s “great friends” tend to be owners of things, owners who can make large contributions to his campaign and associated Super PAC. Large donations are troublesome because they suggest the donor will have outsized influence on the politician if elected. It’s more troublesome when these great friends own businesses that
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Last month, we broke the story about military industry money pouring into the campaign coffers of Patricia McKeon, the wife of Buck McKeon (R-CA), the powerful congressman who serves as chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The McKeons have largely ducked questions about this unusual arrangement. The congressman even fled from Republic Report’s Zaid Jilani
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Mitt Romney’s super PAC, Restore Our Future, outspent that of Rick Santorum 2-1 in order to secure the slim margin of victory in Romney’s home state of Michigan yesterday. According to the Federal Election Commission, super PACs spent $5.8 million on TV ads, direct mail, and robocalls to voters in Arizona and Michigan leading up
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Last weekend, Congressman Tim Holden sat down for an interview with the Sam Lesante Show to talk about an array of issues facing voters. Holden, a member of the pro-big business Blue Dog coalition of Democrats, faces a primary challenge from the left in his recently redistricted seat in eastern Pennsylvania. At one point during
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A look at recent political advertising reveals a reoccurring trend this election cycle: attacks on politicians for being too close to K Street. The Republican-affiliated Americans for Prosperity group has featured lobbyist donations from energy companies in attack ads against President Obama. Similarly, Mitt Romney’s allies have launched attacks on Newt Gingrich for accepting lobbying
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Last night on his show, Jimmy Fallon was joined by Brian Williams and the Roots to slow jam on President Obama’s decision to embrace super PACs. He sang: “Aww yeah, sounds like the president goes both ways on this issue. I ain’t mad. There ain’t nothing wrong with a campaign getting an insertion of backdoor
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