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A NOTE FROM FRED
As we approach the end of the primary season, here are a couple of money-in-politics lessons we have learned midpoint in the elections:
There has never been a national election with so much political money coming from so many billionaires and multimillionaires. As of May, the top ten donors and their spouses have given a total of more than $100 million to super PACs for the 2016 election, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Twenty-eight donors and their spouses each have given at least $2.5 million. To put this in perspective, the average family of four earns $54,000 per year. This extraordinary flow of huge contributions is providing the Super Rich with magnified influence over elections and corrupting influence over government decisions. It is also creating deep cynicism among the American people about their interests being fairly represented in Washington.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has leaped into the big money chase, going in the blink of an eye from self-described “Mr. Can’t-Be-Bought” to self-defined “Mr. Puppet.” During the primaries, self-financing Donald Trump repeatedly pointed out he couldn’t be bought by big donors. He attacked his primary opponents for their super PACs, saying that when donors give huge contributions to Jeb Bush for example, “they have him just like a puppet,” and that “[Bush will] do whatever they want.” Trump now has super PACs fighting over which one will be his “official” pro-Trump super PAC and he is raising huge contributions for a Trump/RNC joint fundraising committee. “Mr. Can’t-Be-Bought” has left the building and “Mr. Puppet” has arrived.
To read more lessons learned, read my op-ed for the Huffington Post.
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Drama over RNC/Trump fundraising deal as Reuters reports that Donald Trump fired his national political director over disagreements over the RNC deal. Trump alledgedly told staffers that political director Rick Wiley "should be fired" for leaving out Nevada from the 11 states included in the RNC agreement. Read more from Reuters. As well, CNN reports that "discord is already brewing" between the Trump campaign and the RNC. A GOP donor reports that Trump donors plan to meet to discuss if the RNC has Trump's best interests at heart. They are concerned that the fundraising deal could "fill the RNC's coffers but leave far less to benefit" Trump. Read more from CNN
Sanders and Clinton spend big in California. Both campaigns announced that they are spending additional money in ad buys in the state before its primary on June 7th. The Sanders' campaign announced a new ad buy of around $2 million and Clinton soon followed with a new ad featuring Morgan Freeman and labor leaders. Read more
Trump seeks support of energy industry. "Trump is seeking to make inroads with the fossil fuel industry as he moves into the general election." Trump spoke Thursday at a North Dakota petroleum convention. Prominent coal industry exec Bob Murray already supports Trump and after meeting with him said, "He's got his head on right." Other industry leaders like T.Boone Pickens have said they will fundraise for Trump. Read more
Clinton's best defense - campaign finance reform. According to Eliza Newlin Carney at the American Propsect, "Clinton has overlooked her most potent tool for fighting back: her own sweeping democracy reform platform." Carney cites Clinton's appeals to Wall Street donors and coordination with big money outside groups as contributing to her image as untrustworthy. A better approach would be to embrace her reform platform where she pledged to match small contributions with public funds and "pull back the curtain on secret money." Read more
Public financing system worked, but needs reforms. The Atlantic looks at the history of the public financing system for elections. Fred says, "The bottom line is this system did exactly what it was supposed to do for more than two decades. The system was not perfect, but it allowed candidates to run competitive races for office. It kept candidates away from private-influence money. It worked." However, Congress has failed to modernize the system and reforms are needed. Read more
Clinton network of "Hillblazers" raises big bucks. Since the beginning of this year, the Clinton campaign has added 125 major donors to her "Hillblazers" list of supporters that raised at least $100,000. As of the end of April, the "Hillblazers" had raised a combined $41 million. The donors are spread across the country, but many are based in New York or California. Read more
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2016 FACT OF THE DAY
60 percent - The percentage of campaign contributions to local D.C. elected officials that came from corporations and out-of-D.C. donors, according to a new report from U.S. PIRG. Read more
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NY: NY Jets Owner Woody Johnson announced that he is one of the six finance vice chairmen at the RNC that are focused on fundraising for Trump. Read more
NY: POLITICO reports that Mayor Bill de Blasio took an "unusually personal role in raising money for a nonprofit group backing his political agenda," according to those who received fundraising appeals from de Blasio. The nonprofit group Campaign for One New York is under investigation regarding if donors received preferential treatment from de Blasio and his aides. Read more
FL: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carlos Beruff has spent more than $3 million on ads statewide. Beruff is largely self-funding his campaign. Read more
SC: SC House members amended a bill Thursday to require non-profit organizations to reveal the source of the money that they spend on elections. Read more
By: Fred Wertheimer (@FredWertheimer) & Kathryn Beard (@KathrynBeard)
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