It’s tempting to feel sorry for Obama because it would appear he’s having some trouble raising money for his re-election campaign through his super PAC Priorities USA Action.
Billionaire investor George Soros and insurance executive Peter Lewis – who together have donated more than $50 million to Democratic political groups since 2004 – are among scores of donors close to the Obama campaign who remain on the sidelines as PACs that can receive unlimited donations seek to load up before the November election.
Their reluctance helps explain why Priorities USA Action, the Super PAC that supports Obama, has struggled to keep fundraising pace with rival Republican groups that have already spent tens of millions on the presidential race.
Tempting until one remembers that Obama has done quite a bit of finger pointing and blame-placing when it comes to super PACs and the Citizens United decision that allowed for unlimited donations, taking up the charge that they are corrupting the democratic process and being used by the very wealthy to buy elections.
So how does Obama plan on raising the money for his campaign? According to the Wall Street Journal, he’ll do it the way he did in 2008:
Until February, the president gave every sign he wanted nothing to do with his super PAC, sending a signal to prospective donors to stay away. He would bankroll his campaign the same way he did four years ago, with substantial money coming in $50 and $100 payments from donors across the U.S.
Now, it may seem fairly obvious to even the most casual observer that $50/$100 payments do not a campaign make. But rest assured, the big money donors, according to an op-ed in the Washington Times, (the partisan rhetoric is purely the opinion of the author, not the opinion of CCP) are still out there and ready to give to secure a second-term for Obama, even if there’s some debate over short- and long-term goals:
George Soros‘ Democracy Alliance, an invitation-only club for billionaire leftist political donors, has decided to drown Democrats and President Obama’s re-election campaign in an ocean of cash this year. Democracy Alliance, founded in 2005, is a financial clearinghouse that recommends to its wealthy members projects and groups aimed at transforming America into a European-style socialist state. The secretive group has directed untold hundreds of millions of dollars to left-of-center causes.
For all the grousing about super PACs, it would appear the super wealthy have options when it comes to getting their guy elected.
