Independent groups
Politico 44: Crossroads launches $1.7M ad campaign against Obama
by Byron TauCrossroads GPS, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the GOP super PAC American Crossroads, is going up against President Obama in five states with an ad buy totaling $1.7 million.
MSNBC: Crossroads joins tag team hitting Obama on gas prices
by Mark MurrayCrossroads GPS, the outside GOP group backed by former George W. Bush political adviser Karl Rove and others, has a new TV ad knocking President Obama on the issue of gas prices.
The American Prospect: Don’t Worry about the Super PACs
by Jamelle BouieIn the presidential election at least, money from the pro-Romney American Crossroads won’t be a game changer.
Disclosure
Reuter: Coke withdraws from group that backs Stand Your Ground law
by Barbara Liston and Martinne Geller“Our involvement with ALEC was focused on efforts to oppose discriminatory food and beverage taxes, not on issues that have no direct bearing on our business. We have a long-standing policy of only taking positions on issues that impact our company and industry.”
Reuters: Gates Foundation cuts ties to U.S. conservative group
by David Ingram and John CrawleySome corporations that are ALEC members have said they stood by ALEC’s work in policy areas that are important to their businesses and that are unrelated to guns or voting laws.
Washington Examiner: Time to come clean on unions’ election spending
EditorialWhat went unmentioned in the press was that these same groups were spending “secret money” right up through 2002, when McCain-Feingold became law. They have historically been afforded donor privacy because of a 1958 Supreme Court decision that protected NAACP donors from harassment by racist Alabama authorities. There is, however, a serious legal argument that this civil rights precedent does not directly apply, and that transparency should prevail over custom. But if it brings such joy to their hearts to reveal the names of private citizens who support Planned Parenthood or Americans for Tax Reform, why do so many on the Left seem so disinterested in the more substantive campaign finance issues that pertain to organized labor?
Politico: President Obama eyes super PAC showdown
by Alexander Burns and Maggie HabermanInstead, the president’s campaign and the Obama-sanctioned super PAC Priorities USA Action are attempting to undercut the spending by tainting it in the minds of voters, linking it to oil magnates and other unpopular corporate interests.
Candidates and parties
CNN: Source: Cantor staff error to blame for anti-incumbent super PAC donation
by Dana BashA source close to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor tells CNN a staff error is to blame for giving $25,000 to Campaign for Primary Accountability, an anti-incumbent super PAC.
US News: Obama Campaign Uses Conservative Blitz to Raise Money
by Kenneth WalshIn the never-ending cycle of charge and counter charge, President Obama’s re-election campaign is using the prospect of a huge anti-Obama ad blitz sponsored by a prominent conservative group to raise money.
Politico: 5 options for Santorum’s war chest
by Dave LevinthalRick Santorum is “suspending” his presidential campaign, but that doesn’t mean he has to dissolve his war chest.
