Independent groups
Roll Call, Eliza Newlin Carney: Local, National Chambers Clash on Ads
Amid a multistate ad blitz by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that targets 20 House and Senate races, state and local chamber affiliates in Montana and Virginia have condemned or distanced themselves from the national trade group’s ads.
Esquire: Super-PAC Tuesday And The American Bribery Trap
Citizens United has created a great trap for the country from which there may be no real escape.
Tuscon Weekly: McCain: Citizens United Was “The Worst Decision of the United States Supreme Court”
Sen. John McCain isn’t happy about the drawn-out Republican nomination process.
Huffington Post: Democracy For Sale
Tuesday saw the Republican presidential primary Michigan come down to the wire, with the final push to the finish line determining the undisputed winners, which were… the funders of Mitt Romney’s Super PAC, easily the top spender in the state, and other high-powered donors (some of them unknown). Most of that spending, of course, was on negative ads.
Huffington Post: Mitt Romney Super PAC’s Big Donors Could Reap Many Dividends
One thing’s for certain about most of the biggest donors bankrolling the main pro-Mitt Romney super PAC: They are canny investors.
National Memo: Gay Donors Get Creative In Super PAC America
In this Citizens United era of unregulated campaign cash, gay activists and donors are finding innovative ways to reward Barack Obama, who despite his equivocation on marriage equality is often lauded as the greatest friend to the LGBT community of any president in American history.
Disclosure
ABC News: Obama Campaign, Billionaire Koch Brothers Spar Publicly
The back-and-forth began Friday when, in a fund-raising email to supporters, Obama campaign manager Jim Messina accused the billionaire brothers of “jacking up prices at the pump” and bankrolling “Tea Party extremism.”
Candidates and parties
Fox: NYC comptroller reconsidering political bid
New York City Comptroller John Liu — a Democrat who had been widely viewed as a potential successor to Mayor Michael Bloomberg — said he plans to reassess whether to run for office in 2013 following the arrest of his campaign treasurer on Tuesday.
Bloomberg: Obama Tops in Primary Spending Even Without Democratic Opponent
During 2012’s primary campaign, one presidential candidate has bought more advertising, hired more people and spent more on a grassroots organization than any other White House hopeful.
Lobbying and ethics
Chicago Tribune: Edwards campaign finance trial set for April
Jury selection is set to begin in Greensboro, North Carolina, on April 12 and the presentation of evidence will start on April 23. Eagles said she expects the trial to last about six weeks.
STATE and LOCAL
Oregon –– Ashland Daily Tidings: City Council has enough to do
We agree with those who are working to oppose the ruling and the concept that corporations have First Amendment rights to free speech on par with individuals.We don’t agree that the Ashland City Council should be expected to declare a position on this national issue.
Nebraska –– KVNO News: Campaign finance limits in Nebraska: dead or alive?
Nebraska’s Campaign Finance Limitation Act, or CFLA, has been on the books for 20 years. Jack Gould of Common Cause Nebraska says it grew out of concern that election campaigns were becoming too expensive for ordinary people to compete in successfully. “There are those who can raise money a lot more easily than other people. That doesn’t necessarily mean that that person’s is more correct than the other person. It just means they’re able to raise more money. So I think you don’t want to disadvantage a candidate on the basis of the fact that he may not be supported by AT&T or ConAgra or one of the big corporations,” Gould said.
