GOP Super pacs widening funds gap with Dem counterparts
Enjoy this while we can. The Supreme Court is likely to take another look at its Citizens United decision next year as several cases are advancing in the lower courts. Given the shocking amount of money being thrown around, SCOTUS might make the political decision to strike it down.
But for now, the GOP's Super Pacs are cleaning up and far outraising their Democratic counterparts.
The national campaigns backing President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are drawing even in their fundraising prowess, but new financial filings released show that the "super" political committees supporting the GOP candidate and his party are widening the money gap over struggling pro-Democratic party organizations.
The main pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, on Wednesday reported raising $8 million in May, giving it a total of $64 million so far. The group spent more than $55 million to defeat Romney's opponents during the GOP primary, and it is now reaping high-dollar financial aid from both veteran Romney supporters and from donors who once backed his rivals.
A political committee backing Obama, Priorities USA Action, posted its strongest one-month total by raking in $4 million in May, a sign that Democrats had begun digging deep into their wallets after months of hesitance. But the pro-Obama group was still left in the dust -- not only by the Restore committee's strong performance but also by the latest tally from American Crossroads, a Republican super PAC formed by GOP strategist Karl Rove. It raised $4.6 million in May.
After early months that saw Obama reach impressive fundraising totals echoing his campaign's record-breaking $750 million haul in 2008, the changing calculus raises the prospect that he could become the first incumbent president outspent by his challenger. Romney's national campaign joined with the Republican Party in May to raise more than $76 million, outpacing Obama and the Democrats' $60 million haul during the same period.
The biggest reason for the discrepancy is not that Republicans are richer than Democrats, it's that the GOP is more energized than the opposition -- more confident, more enthusiastic, and better organized.
This doesn't mean Romney will win or that Republicans will hang on to the House or take the senate. It means that, unlike 2008, the playing field will be relatively level, which bodes well for the party out of power in a failing economy.