CCP
Campaign Donations via Text May be on the Horizon
By Sarah LeeIt doesn’t happen often but sometimes the boys meet on the political battlefield with white flags hoisted and agree — not agree to disagree, but actually agree — that something is a good idea
Independent groups
Reuters: House Democratic ‘Super PAC’ raised $1 mln since March
By Alina Selyukh and Alexander CohenHouse Majority PAC, a “Super PAC” aimed at helping elect Democrats to the U.S. House of, Representatives, raised $1.1 million in the past six weeks, according to disclosure documents released on Thursday.
The Hill: Super-PAC ads look to tie Obama to Wall Street and turn off his supporters
By Niall StanageConservative super-PACs are attempting to gin up disillusionment among President Obama’s supporters and keep their turnout low in November’s election, in part by highlighting his ties to Wall Street.
National Journal, Influence Alley: Potter: Current Campaign Finance System Could Depress Voter Turnout
By Andrew JosephIf campaign spending remains unregulated and uncontrolled, it will lead to a surge of negative campaign ads that in turn will hurt voter participation, Trevor Potter, the Campaign Legal Center president and former member of the Federal Election Commission, said in a speech Wednesday.
NY Times: Can State Laws Cohabit With Citizens United?
By LINCOLN CAPLANThe Supreme Court is expected to respond in June to a Montana Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s Corrupt Practices Act, which bans corporations from making political expenditures from their general treasuries.
Tampa Bay Times: Super PACs shoot rapid fire in air war,
By ALEX LEARYMillions of dollars in political ads are flooding Florida TV, including two spots Wednesday by President Barack Obama’s campaign and an anti-Obama ad from a super PAC, the new breed of political action committee powered by unrestricted donations.
NY Times, Blog: Political Dividends
By THOMAS B. EDSALLFour years after the 2008 collapse, the finance industry has regained its dominant position in American politics. Perhaps the development of deepest significance is an absence: the failure of a powerful anti-Wall Street faction to emerge in either the House or the Senate. This is in contrast to the response to previous financial crises, when Congress enacted tough legislation — after the Savings and Loan implosion of the 1980s, for example, and more recently after the bankruptcy of Enron and WorldCom in the early 2000s.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
The Atlantic: Obama and Roberts: The View From 2005
By James FallowsThe Post story discussed the motives and rationales of the leading Democrats in the Senate for voting the way they did, and considered the ramifications for the later ambitions of several of them, including Sens. Biden, Bayh, Clinton, etc. It also discussed the views of Sens. Chuck Schumer, Lindsey Graham, Jon Kyl, et al — but did not even mention one of the Democrats opposed to Roberts. This was of course the 44-year-old freshman senator from Illinois whom Chief Justice Roberts would swear in as president less than three and a half years later. It is one more reminder of the out-of-nowhere quality of Barack Obama’s rise.
Disclosure
Roll Call: Support Urged for Campaign Finance Disclosure Bill
By Eliza Newlin CarneyAmid speculation that Senate Democrats will bring up a campaign finance disclosure bill as early as June, the League of Women Voters has launched a $90, 000 radio ad campaign calling on four GOP Senators to “tell us you support full disclosure.”
Candidates and parties
New Republic: Why Neither Side is Bringing the Nasty
By NOAM SCHEIBERI’m on record claiming that Team Obama is playing a tougher form of bean bag this time around than in 2008. But, even so, I agree with Jon Chait that this election won’t really be that nasty. I just think so for different reasons.
National Journal: Obama’s Last Line of Defense
By Ronald BrownsteinThe new round of national and state surveys this week generally showing President Obama clinging to a tenuous advantage over Republican Mitt Romney reinforce the conclusion that socially liberal, upscale white women may stand as the president’s indispensable line of defense in his struggle for reelection.
The Hill: Romney uses lessons from bruising GOP primary to fight back against Obama
By Justin SinkMitt Romney is finding that the lessons he learned in the GOP primary are serving him well against President Obama.
