In the News
Mother Jones: The Reformers Strike Back!
By Andy KrollSince the mid-2000s, a small cadre of lawyers and activists has reshaped the role of money in American politics. Led by Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), attorney James Bopp, Jr., and law professor and activist Brad Smith, this group has won a string of victories that have imploded campaign finance laws. Citizens United? That was Bopp. Super-PACs? Thank Smith’s Center for Competitive Politics. The 2010 and 2012 DISCLOSE Act filibusters? All McConnell.
PBS Newshour: Exploring the Financing of Campaign Advertising
By CASSIE M. CHEW“The question presented is whether the ads are political ads as opposed to ads that are discussions of issues,” Allen Dickerson, an attorney representing NDC and legal counsel for the Center for Competitive Politics, told Holman in the NewsHour interview.
Independent groups
Washington Post: In purple Virginia, red super PACs get the green
By Laura VozzellaVirginians have given nearly $4 million to conservative super PACs in the 2012 election cycle but just $76,000 to liberal versions of these political action committees, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics.
USA Today: Pro-Romney group spends $10.5M to hit Obama on jobs
By Catalina CamiaThe super PAC supporting Mitt Romney will launch a new $10.5 million ad campaign tomorrow in 11 swing states, slamming President Obama’s record on jobs and the economy.
Candidates and parties
The Hill: Romney campaign says Obama continuing ‘shameful dodges’ on super-PAC ad
By Justin SinMitt Romney’s team is hoping to keep pressure on President Obama over a controversial super-PAC ad that links the Republican presidential hopeful to the death of a cancer patient, issuing a statement Monday blasting the president’s reelection campaign.
NY Times: Obama Rejoins Campaign Trail in Iowa and Finds a Brand-New Rival There
By HELENE COOPER and TRIP GABRIELDES MOINES — President Obama and Representative Paul D. Ryan went head-to-head Monday for the first time since Mr. Ryan ascended to the Republican presidential ticket.
NY Times (Blog): Paul Ryan’s Liberal Fan Club
By THOMAS B. EDSALLBoth left and right view the Ryan budget as the ticking time bomb of the 2012 election, although they disagree about who will suffer the most political damage when it explodes.
The Hill: Romney campaign says Obama continuing ‘shameful dodges’ on super-PAC ad
By Justin Sink“It’s been a week since President Obama’s Super PAC unveiled its disgraceful attack on Mitt Romney — and the President is still nowhere to be found,” said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams in the statement. “After repeatedly raising money for the organization, President Obama’s advisers won’t condemn the ad, and they won’t even admit the people running the Super PAC are Democrats. Americans deserve better from their president than shameful dodges and unanswered questions.”
Contributions
Washington Post: When is a campaign contribution a bribe?
By Robert BarnesFormer Alabama governor Don Siegelman heads back to prison next month, contrite about and embarrassed by his bribery conviction. But when he faced resentencing earlier this month, he still was not quite ready to concede that he knowingly broke the law.
