In the News
Politico: TV stations love super PACs
By TARINI PARTI“It’s like Christmas in September for broadcasters. And October,” said David Keating, president of the Center for Competitive Politics and former executive director of Club for Growth.
Wall Street Journal: The Governor Hosts His Own Party
By JACOB GERSHMAN“If you care about the environment, clean water, fair taxation…it comes back to campaign-finance reform,” said Sean Eldridge, an advocate for public financing. David Primo, a political scientist at the University of Rochester, said that there’s little evidence to suggest that instituting a matching-fund program in Albany would increase voter participation or lead to election of more capable politicians.
CCP
CCP AOR Before FEC This Morning
By Sarah LeeThe AOR is a result of a collaboration between Center for Competitive Politics Legal Director Allen Dickerson and attorney Benjamin T. Barr and local counsel Dan Backer of DB Capitol Strategies. The advisory opinion request (AOR) on behalf of the National Defense Committee asks for clarification as to whether certain proposed internet communications are “express advocacy” subject to regulation by the Commission. The AOR also asks whether National Defense must file as a political action committee (“PAC”) in order to produce these communications.
Independent groups
Politico: A super PAC-politician firewall? Not quite
By JAKE SHERMAN, JOHN BRESNAHAN and KENNETH P. VOGELOn a steamy mid-July day on Capitol Hill, top lieutenants to House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy had a special guest at their weekly vote-counting meeting: Karl Rove.
Forbes: Wielding Influence: How Scotts Miracle-Gro Got It Right With Super PAC Donation
By Amy ShowalterIn June, Scotts Miracle-Gro contributed $200,000.00 to the Restore Our Future super PAC supporting GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Corporate executive giving to super PACs isn’t news, but it is news when a consumer goods company with a prominent brand does so with corporate treasury dollars; most corporate donations to super PACs are from privately held entities.
Candidates and parties
Politico: 6 hidden fault lines in President Obama’s campaign
By Glenn ThrushBut surprisingly, many of Obama’s toughest challenges during the slog of his 2012 reelection campaign have turned out to be internal ones, the product of internecine political disagreements, personal rivalries among his high-octane political team and the inevitable difficulties of trying to rekindle the flickering flame of hope-and-change 2008.
Washington Post: Obama campaign is depending on a strong ground game against Romney
By T.W. Farnam and Dan EggenWhen President Obama campaigned in Las Vegas Wednesday, his aides had laid the groundwork by opening 18 field offices around the city. Mitt Romney’s state operation has opened three.
Politico: No referees in politics
By ROGER SIMONOFA stands for Obama for America — an homage, perhaps, to the fictional “The West Wing” and its “Bartlet for America” theme — a way of suggesting that some candidates do not run for president, but for the nation.
CNN: ‘Super PAC App’ knows when political ads stretch the truth
By John Sutter(CNN) — What if every political ad came with a “truthiness” disclaimer?
