Can the Democrats Catch Up in the Super-PAC Game?

[steve2470]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/magazine/can-the-democrats-catch-up-in-the-super-pac-game.html?pagewanted=all

One day in April, Paul Begala, a former Bill Clinton political strategist and CNN analyst, placed a phone call to a wealthy and left-leaning 41-year-old Houston lawyer named Steve Mostyn. Begala is himself a Texan, albeit one who gives off the jittery vibe of a Catskills comedian, and the two men have a few friends in common. But Mostyn, a frequent giver to Democratic causes, quickly intuited that this wasn’t a social call. Begala reminded Mostyn that he was now working as a consultant for Priorities USA Action, a so-called super PAC run by Bill Burton and Sean Sweeney, former White House senior staff members, that was committed to Barack Obama’s re-election. He and Burton would be coming to Houston on Friday, April 13, Begala said. Could they arrange for a meeting?

“I’ll be in Fort Lauderdale that day on my boat,” Mostyn replied. “You’re welcome to join me there.”

The invitation was not thoroughly sincere, evidenced by the fact that Mostyn did not inform Begala where his boat would be docked. Nonetheless, at noon sharp on Friday the 13th, Begala (who is prone to seasickness) and Burton (who had taken a red-eye flight from San Francisco, where he spent the previous afternoon giving his pitch to wealthy progressives at the Telegraph Hill home of the Taco Bell heir Rob McKay), materialized at the correct Fort Lauderdale marina, each wearing jeans and bearing iPads.

For the uninitiated, “boat” is Texan for “yacht.” Burton and Begala climbed aboard the outsize Mostyn vessel, All or Nothing, and the attractive first mate handed them cans of Michelob Ultra. A four-hour conversation ensued. Mostyn and his wife, Amber (who is also an attorney), were congenial but blunt. They were not fans of super PACs — political action committees that can receive unlimited donations from individuals, corporations and unions, usually for the purpose of saturating the airwaves with attack ads — and were appalled by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010, which made such entities possible. For that matter, the Mostyns weren’t entirely happy with Obama. The president had been far too accommodating to Republicans — “naïve,” as Amber Mostyn expressed it.

[davidpdx]

1. No, the Democrats could never keep up on the PAC front

The Republicans will raise as much dirty money (dirty in Oregon means "laundered&quot as they can to try to buy, steal or cheat their way votes (or the suppression thereof).

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

2. I'm beginning to think that this may not be as big of a problem as many think.

All this money that the pro-Mitt PACs are spending, and it really hasn't made that much of a difference right now. I think the Obama donors are sitting back for awhile, understanding that they'll never be able to catch up. The real spending will come post-conventions and into the fall. That's my take. I could be wrong, though.

[AlinPA]

3. Yes, post convention spending by the GOP SuperPACs will be high. I'm thinking 10's of billions.

Corporations have a lot of money in cash now.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

4. And so if that is the case, the Democratic PACs and donors know that they will never catch up.

That fact has led the Democrats and Obama to go on the offensive. They have no choice. And what the Republicans and the Corporate Media has deemed "negative ads," these are really attack ads based on truth. They are not "swiftboating." The story about Bain is the truth. I'm hoping that the negative ads that the Republican PACs will run against Democrats could backfire. People will likely start tuning out. The only game that we have is to continue hammering away. Because we are forced to have a more focused message due to scarce resources, we have to continue to stay on message and on the offensive.