"The Line at the ‘Super PAC’ Trough"
The Line at the Super PAC Trough
the Editorial Board at the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/16/opinion/sunday/the-line-at-the-super-pac-trough.html?smid=re-share&_r=0
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This election year will be the moment when individual candidate super PACs a form of legalized bribery become a truly toxic force in American politics. The giant ideological super PACs formed by political operatives like Karl Rove spent hundreds of millions in 2012, but didnt produce the conservative revolution demanded by the big donors. So now the torrent of cash is heading toward smaller groups set up to promote a single candidate or, more often, to trash that candidates opponent.
Dozens of these groups have already been formed, and political professionals predict that virtually every Senate race this year, and many contested House races, will have one or more. They can accept unlimited contributions, and thanks to the Citizens United decision, such donations can come from unions and corporations, too. Strictly speaking, these groups can have no contact with the candidate, but that prohibition is a joke. Most of them use the same voter lists as the campaigns, make the same points in their ads, and often are run by cronies of the candidate.
The super PAC of Senator David Vitter, Republican of Louisiana, was set up Charles Spies, whose law firm represents Mr. Vitter. The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that two of the fund-raisers for the super PAC are also paid fund-raisers of Mr. Vitters campaign. If thats not coordination, its hard to imagine what is. But that kind of thing goes on all the time, because theres little enforcement of the rules by the toothless Federal Election Commission.
Democrats have eagerly joined the cash race, and so far their super PACs are raising more money than those of Republicans. Priorities USA Action, Mr. Obamas super PAC in 2012, recently announced that it would switch its allegiance to Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2016, and that it plans to surpass the $67 million it spent on attack ads against Mitt Romney.
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