CCP
CCP and IHS collaborate on video series
By Sarah LeeThe Institute for Human Studies (IHS) at George Mason University and the Center for Competitive Politics (CCP) have recently concluded a series of videos as part of IHS’ LearnLiberty.org, an effort that seeks to answer the following questions:
- What is the nature of man and society?
- What are the best ways to organize human society?
- What is the proper role for government?
David Keating to join Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum in IQ2 Debate in New York
By Sarah LeeOn Wednesday, September 12, CCP President David Keating will take part in the estimable Intelligence Squared (IQ2) debate live in New York City at 6:45 pm at the Kaufman Center located at 129 West 67th Street (between Broadway and Amsterdam).
Independent groups
Institute for Justice: Money (Still) Can’t Buy Elections
By Paul AvelarAnother round of elections, another chance to relearn an old lesson: Money does not buy elections. This time, Politico learns that “In six of the most hotly contested GOP primary contests this cycle, the best funded candidate lost.”
Huffington Post: Democrats Embrace Super PACs, Despite Russ Feingold’s Efforts
By Sam SteinThe party’s convention in Charlotte, N.C. last week witnessed a veritable embrace — from members of the donor class to the average voter — of the super PAC culture that many once decried. There were caveats. People said they supported super PACs allied with President Barack Obama strictly for the purpose of matching conservative cash. Once the election is over, legislation should be passed to limit the influence of outside money, they said, and a constitutional amendment may be needed.
Wall Street Journal (Washington Wire): Political Perceptions: Ad Burnout Ahead?
By Gerald SeibTo all the other forces unleashed by this year’s campaign, it’s possible that, in the remaining two months, we will have to add this one: ad burnout.
Candidates and parties
Associated Press: New donors to Obama? Some ways he can use the $114M in contributions he raised last month
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama dramatically increased his fundraising last month by finding 317,000 donors who hadn’t previously given money to his re-election campaign, a surge that happened around the time of the Republican National Convention. How will Obama spend it?
NY Times: Obama Campaign Says It Beat Romney in Fund-Raising for August
By NICHOLAS CONFESSOREThe Obama campaign announced early Monday that it had raised $114 million in August, saying it had brought in more than the Romney campaign for the first time since April.
Washington Post: Maryland Democrat quits congressional race amid vote fraud allegations
By Ben PershingA Maryland Democratic candidate quit her congressional race Monday after her own party told state officials that she had committed fraud by voting in both Maryland and Florida in recent elections.
FEC
TNR: Who’s the Boss? The Worst Post-Citizen’s United Ruling Yet
By Mark SchmittIs this legal? Is this right? Interestingly, just a few days after the rally, the F.E.C. decided a case involving an employer in Hawaii that required its employees to campaign, on their own time, for Democratic congressional candidate Colleen Hanabusa. (The employer happened to be a union, but the case had to do with its staff, not its members.) In what might seem like a reversal of partisanship, the Commission’s three Democrats supported the general counsel’s judgment that such coercion violated the Federal Election Campaign Act, which forbids employers from coercing workers to contribute to a campaign. But its three Republicans argued that because the work was part of an independent effort by the union, and didn’t involve contributions to the campaign itself, the law didn’t apply: A union or corporation’s “independent use of its paid workforce to campaign for a federal candidate post-Citizen’s United was not contemplated by Congress and, consequently, is not prohibited by either the Act or Commission regulation.” Without a majority on the Commission, it was unable to act.
