CCP
Media Watch: Surprise! “Secret Money” Didn’t Buy Election
By Joe TrotterIn short, the hyperbole is tired and they’re grasping at straws. One need not look further than Al Gore to see what happens when over the top devotion to reform collides with reality.
Independent groups
Washington Post: An anti-super PAC super PAC had a good year
By Dan EggenFriends of Democracy, formed to support candidates who favor limits on big money in politics, says that at least six of the eight candidates it supported won their races. A seventh race is headed for a recount with the group’s favored candidate slightly ahead.
WSJ: Super PACs’ Impact Appears Limited
By DANNY YADRON, PATRICK O’CONNOR and ALEXANDRA BERZONThe super PAC will live on, even if President Barack Obama’s re-election suggests there are limits to money’s influence on politics, said the strategists and donors who spent more than $565 million to alter the 2012 elections through the political groups.
Roll Call: Time to Second-Guess Super PACs
By Eliza Newlin CarneyIt’s been tempting for pundits and analysts to cast Republican super PACs and advocacy organizations as the big losers in this election.
Washington Post: For U.S. Chamber of Commerce, election was a money-loser
By Jia Lynn Yang and Tom HamburgerThe day after an election in which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent millions of dollars backing losing Republican candidates, executives began the brutal process of assessing what went wrong at the nation’s leading business organization.
LA Times: Effect of ‘super PACs’ proved to be less than expected
By Matea Gold and Melanie MasonIn the end, the old truism held: Money isn’t everything.
Bloomberg: Rove Biggest Super-PAC Loser, Trump Says Waste of Money
By Julie Bykowicz and Alison FitzgeraldThe Republican strategist created the model for outside money groups that raised and spent more than $1 billion on the Nov. 6 elections — many of which saw almost no return for their money.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
Wall Street Journal: Montana Voters’ Verdict: Supreme Court Was Wrong
By Jess BravinFor the moment, of course, the Supreme Court’s rulings remain the law of the land, and odds are long that Montanans will see their initiative lead to constitutional change. Amendments must pass both houses of Congress with two-thirds majorities and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states.
Disclosure
WSJ: SEC Staff Considers Proposal on Corporate Political Donations
By Emily ChasanThe Securities and Exchange Commission’s corporate finance division is considering recommending that the agency’s commissioners propose rules that could mandate disclosure of corporate political spending and lobbying activities, amid demands for greater accountability in this area.
Candidates and parties
NY Times: How a Race in the Balance Went to Obama
By ADAM NAGOURNEY, ASHLEY PARKER, JIM RUTENBERG and JEFF ZELENYSeven minutes into the first presidential debate, the mood turned from tense to grim inside the room at the University of Denver where Obama staff members were following the encounter. Top aides monitoring focus groups — voters who registered their minute-by-minute reactions with the turn of a dial — watched as enthusiasm for Mitt Romney spiked. “We are getting bombed on Twitter,” announced Stephanie Cutter, a deputy campaign manager, while tracking the early postings by political analysts and journalists whom the Obama campaign viewed as critical in setting debate perceptions.
Roll Call: Who Will Take the Reins of Senate Campaign Committees?
By Shira ToeplitzThe last GOP nominee had not yet conceded Wednesday and Senate Republicans had already started searching for a leader to find a path back to 51 seats.
Lobbying and ethics
Chicago Sun Times: Jesse Jackson Jr. in plea deal talks with feds, sources say
By Michael SneedSneed is also told Jackson, who returned to Mayo Clinic after undergoing outpatient treatment in the seclusion of his home in Washington, D.C., is not only being investigated for allegedly using campaign funds to decorate his Washington home — but also Sneed hears he may also have used campaign funds to buy a $40,000 Rolex watch as a gift for a female friend.
