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“What we’re watching here is theater of the absurd. The presidential campaigns, the parties and Washington are operating on a different planet from the rest of the nation when it comes to big money in American politics. This system is in free-fall collapse,” said Fred in responseto Trump and Clintons use of joint fundraising committees. Matea Gold outlines in the Washington Post how joint fundraising committees came to be through the McCutcheon decision and a last minute Congressional rider and how they are being used to raise huge contributions again. Read more
Trump uncertainty sends GOP donors to Senate and House races. As many big donors look to distance themselves from Trump, "hundreds of millions of dollars that Republican groups had been poised to spend in the 2016 presidential election are now increasingly likely to move into Senate and House races." GOP and Democratic outside groups have already spent more than $25 million on advertising in Senate general election races alone, according to Kantar Media/CMAG, significantly outpacing the 2014 and 2012 campaigns. Read more
Clinton invests in battleground states and is pumping millions into states like Colorado, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania that are "at the heart of her presidential map" and key for the Democratic efforts to win back the Senate. The DNC and state parties are spending $2 million to build organized campaigns in eight battleground states with money raised through the joint fundraising committee Hillary Victory Fund. Read more.
"Let’s face it: Trump and Clinton are great for business. The business, that is, of raising huge sums of money for the battle to control the Senate and House in 2017." POLITICO says, that both Republican and Democratic congressional fundraising committees see "major monetary promise" in having Trump and Hillary as the party nominees. For the Republicans, they see Clinton's controversies like the FBI email investigation as a "gold mine for their cash operations." For the Democrats, congressional candidates are using Trump's comments about Hispanics, Muslims and women in their campaign ads. Read more
RNC spends big on digital ads. The RNC finalized its largest digital ad deal ever and is reserving $150 million in video ads for the general election. The deal focuses on premium digital video and ad placements through sites like Google. Read more
“Once again, it’s like ringing the dinner gong for the lobbyists,” Senator Warren said in response to it being appropriations season again on Capitol Hill, meaning Congress is full of Wall Street lobbyists promoting regulatory relief through riders attached to spending bills. Eliza Newlin Carney for American Prospect says "Wall Street interests have historically been among the most aggressive and successful in persuading Congress to deliver policy fixes favorable to their industry via spending bill riders—provisions that would invariably trigger public outcry if debated out in the open." An example is the 2014 rider that repealed a key provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Read more
Obama hosts top donors at the White House. A new MapLight analysis shows Obama frequently hosts wealthy donors to his campaign, the DNC, the nonprofit group Organizing for Action and his post-presidential foundation. 15 of the 39 named donors to the Obama Foundation have been invited to small meetings at the White House. "The White House says Obama’s private events with donors were not for the purpose of fundraising for the foundation, and that the president isn’t raising money for the foundation while he’s in office." Read more
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