Independent groups
ABC News: Forget Super PAC’s, Outside Spending By Non-Profits, Businesses, Is Way More Secretive
By Elizabeth HartfieldHowever, there is another group of spenders who have been actively participating in the campaign cycle: non-profit groups and other businesses. According to figures from the Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), nonprofits and business groups have spent roughly $28 million on general-election related advertising so far. And these groups are much more secretive than Super PAC’s.
Politico: Crossroads: Obama’s too cool for the presidency
By Byron TauThe Republican super PAC American Crossroads is out with a new web video that resurrects the narrative that President Obama is more of a celebrity than a serious politician, with Obama’s recent appearance on Jimmy Fallon as the latest example.
Disclosure
Politico: Make them public: Put broadcasters’ files online
By CRAIG AARON and CORIE WRIGHTYou do your taxes online. You get driving directions online. You’re likely reading this article online.
Washington Free Beacon: Meet the Left Wing ALECs
By CJ CiaramellaOne explicitly liberal group that pushes model legislation is the Progressive States Network. In 2009, the Soros Fund made a grant of $300,000 to the organization. In 2010, members of the Progressive States Network Board included Wes Boyd, President and co-founder of MoveOn.org; David Brock, President and CEO of Media Matters for America; and John Podesta, President and CEO, the Center for American Progress.
Roll Call: Activists Pressure Walmart to Drop Support of ALEC
By Janie LorberCivil rights activists including the Rev. Jesse Jackson are demanding that Walmart cut ties with the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative nonprofit that’s come under fire for promoting Stand Your Ground laws such as the one at the center of the Trayvon Martin case.
Minnesota Public Radio: Some shareholders call for companies to disclose political giving
By Catharine RichertBut for at least five local companies, the hot topic will be political spending and lobbying disclosure.
Candidates and parties
Bloomberg: Clinton Backers Wait for Obama’s to Cut Checks for Super-PAC
By Julianna GoldmanBill and Hillary Clinton’s network of political donors has a message for President Barack Obama’s longtime backers when it comes to multi-million dollar contributions — you first.
NY Times, Loyal Opposition: Newt Gingrich’s Debt
By ANDREW ROSENTHALNewt Gingrich is preparing to make the transition from forgotten-but-not-gone to gone-and-hopefully-forgotten by dropping his presidential campaign next week. And he’s doing it in good Reagan-and-Bush-era Republican fashion – carrying on about fiscal responsibility while piling up a nice fat budget deficit.
NY Times: Gingrich Is Quitting the Race (Just Give Him a Little Time)
By MARK LEIBOVICHMOORESVILLE, N.C. — Newt Gingrich arrived at the Penske Racing plant here on Thursday accompanied by a large security detail protecting him from a big threat — of rain.
Roll Call: Mark Pryor Contributor Cops to Internship Flub
By Warren RojasThe FBI can officially stand down. The accidental deal-maker behind the head-scratching offer that would have sent the presumptive “Hottest Girl in America” to intern for Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) has accepted full responsibility for the headline-making gaffe.
Bloomberg: Money Won’t Win Presidency but It Might Buy Congress
By Ezra KleinBoth candidates will, in other words, have more than enough money to get out their message, attack their opponent and support their ground game. Even as they’re spending all this money on paid media, the campaigns will receive an almost infinite amount of free media from newspapers, television, magazines and blogs that will spend the next seven months doing nothing but covering the presidential campaign.
