Independent groups
NPR: A Fine Line: Distinguishing Issue Ads From Advocacy
By PETER OVERBYIt’s one of the odd twists of politics that not all political TV ads are created equal. Some are designed to be all about electing someone or defeating someone else, while others are meant to be about issues. It matters a lot to the outside money groups that are running the ads, but for the rest of us, it gets harder and harder to tell them apart.
Washington Post: Super PAC targets incumbents of any stripe
By Paul KaneAfter barely paying attention to politics most his life, Linbeck is a major force behind this year’s most outside-the-box super PAC, the Campaign for Primary Accountability, and funneled at least $1.3 million of his money into the endeavor. While most PACs aim to boost the chances of a favored candidate or to bring down an ideological opponent, the super PAC has a decidedly different goal: to oust incumbents. Of both parties. And why not?
Salon: Dark money middlemen
By ALEX SEITZ-WALDBy now, you probably know that the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allows outside groups to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. You probably know that these groups often don’t have to disclose where that money came from. You may even know that, despite the court’s assurance that this money would be entirely independent of the candidates they’re supporting, there are many ways to coordinate without breaking the law. But you might not know how. In North Dakota, Republicans and outside groups appear to have figured out a clever workaround.
Washington Post: Romney super PAC airs ‘doing fine’ ad
By Rachel WeinerA super PAC supporting former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has launched its own ad using President Obama’s comment that “the private sector is doing fine.”
AP: Service employees union ramps up effort for Obama
By SAM HANANELThe Service Employees International Union said Tuesday it will target its massive field campaign on turning out voters in just eight battleground states—about half the number it focused on in 2008.
TPM Livewire: Ayotte, Rubio to Speak at Super PAC Event
By Sara MurrayTwo of Mitt Romney’s potential running mates are slated to appear at a fundraiser for the super PAC that supports him this week, according to people familiar with the event.
SCOTUS/Judiciary
Time: Will the Supreme Court Consider a Campaign-Finance Mulligan?
By ALEX ALTMANThe Affordable Care Act isn’t the only consequential law whose fate the U.S. Supreme Court holds in its hands. Before the end of the month, the court is also expected to decide whether to hear a Montana campaign-finance case that may alter the landmark Citizens United ruling.
Corporate Governance
Wall Street Journal: Political Spending Pays
In a report to be released Tuesday by the Manhattan Institute, economist (and former senior Clinton Administration official) Rob Shapiro and co-author Douglas Dowson sort through the academic literature and find that “corporate political efforts generally have positive effects on a firm’s market value and its shareholder returns.”The relationship between business and government is complex, but Messrs. Shapiro and Dowson find that “most firms, like most individuals, behave rationally and strategically in their spending decisions on campaigns and lobbying, devoting resources in ways that, they have reason to expect, will benefit the corporations themselves and their shareholders.”
Candidates and parties
Reuters: House Democrats overtake Republicans in May fundraising
By Alina SelyukhWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The fundraising arm of the Democratic Party working to elect its candidates to the U.S. House of Representatives raised $6.7 million in May, catching up and topping its Republican counterpart for the month.
FEC
Bloomberg: Obama’s FEC Stance Doesn’t Sit Well with Good-Government Groups
By JONATHAN SALANTFaced with a dysfunctional Federal Election Commission, a trove of good-government and watchdog groups petitioned the White House to do something about it.
