Independent groups
Wall Street Journal: Super PAC Money Stalled Despite Obama Greenlight
by Peter Nicholas and Carol LeeAfter Bill Burton failed to win the job of White House press secretary last year, he took a position nobody else wanted—helping lead a super PAC to help re-elect the president.
Reuters: INSIGHT-Key Democratic donors cool to pro-Obama Super PAC
by Alina SelyukhTwo months after U.S. President Barack Obama reluctantly embraced fundraising for big-money “Super PACs,” many major Democratic donors still have not given to such political groups because they are dismayed by how PACs are being used in the presidential campaign.
Politico: Netflix forms PAC
by Dave LevinthalIn yet another move to boost its Washington profile, Netflix has formed a political action committee, new federal records indicate.
Boston Globe: Fund-raising game upended in 2012 race
by Brian C. MooneyAs the general election for president unofficially begins, its funding will be marked by two firsts: For the first time in the post-Watergate era, neither candidate will use public funds, and the super PACs created as a result of a 2010 Supreme Court ruling will have their first chance to wield their unlimited contributions from wealthy individuals, corporations, and labor unions as the nation selects a president.
NY Times: ‘Super PAC,’ Eyeing General Election, Aims Blitz at Obama
by Jim Rutenberg and Jeff ZelenyAmerican Crossroads, the biggest of the Republican “super PACs,” is planning to begin its first major anti-Obama advertising blitz of the year, a moment the Obama re-election campaign has been girding for and another sign that the general election is starting in earnest.
US News: Mort Zuckerman: No Easy Solutions for Big Money in Politics
by Mort ZuckermanBig money is having a powerfully different effect on this year’s national election campaign. We’ve seen it in the extraordinary oscillations of the Republican primaries, largely brought about by millions of dollars of television attack ads, financed not by the opposing campaigns so much as by groups outside the parties that can say whatever they want without the candidates or the parties being called to account.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
UPI: Under the Supreme Court: High court agrees to consider corporate free speech post-Citizen United
by Nicole DebevecThe U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider taking another bite of the corporate political free speech apple recently, accepting a petition asking justices to summarily overturn a Montana Supreme Court decision petitioners say flies in the face of Citizens United.
The Atlantic: Why Obama Should Run Against the Supreme Court
Recently, there has been considerable debate over whether President Obama should run against the Supreme Court as part of his reelection campaign. High-ranking Democratic Rep. James Clyburn has endorsed the idea, and Obama himself has seemed to test the waters with anticipatory criticism of a decision striking down his health-care law as unconstitutional.
Disclosure
The Hill: White House abandons push for federal contractors to disclose political giving
by Mike LillisThe Obama administration has all but abandoned its push to require federal contractors to disclose their political donations.
Tax financing
Slate: Fundraising Buys Moderation
by Matthew YglesiasI was told anecdotally by Arizona politicians that the state’s Clean Elections law helps empower more extreme candidates and now political scientists Seth Masket and Michael Miller have the research (PDF) which backs that conclusion up. Looking at Arizona and Maine they find that “clean” funded candidates “were more ideologically extreme relative to their districts and parties than traditionally-funded legislators were.”
Candidates and parties
Wall Street Journal: Both Parties Wooing Seniors
by Janet HookPresident Barack Obama and Democrats are counting on regaining support from older voters who switched to the GOP in 2008 and 2010 by attacking Republican plans to revamp Medicare. But Mitt Romney is proving to be a formidable competitor in this battle.
Politico: Primary season: 5 lessons for Congress
by Alex IsenstadtThree members of Congress have already lost their reelection bids. House GOP leadership has further fractured. A mysterious super PAC is making incumbents in both parties sweat.
Politico: Eric Cantor donation roils House GOP
by Alex IsenstadtHouse Majority Leader Eric Cantor went into damage control mode Friday following the revelation that he contributed $25,000 to a super PAC devoted to defeating incumbent House members — including numerous Republicans.
FEC
Roll Call: FEC Ruling Leaves Ad Uncertainty
by Eliza Newlin CarneyA court ruling rejecting Federal Election Commission disclosure requirements as too lax has left political players unsure how much they need to report about the financing of issue ads, making the agency a battleground in the dispute over secret money in 2012.
