Via Gawker, Salon follows the money behind Karl Rove’s latest Astroturf outfit:
Virtually all of the $4.7 million raised by Karl Rove’s new conservative outfit was contributed by just four billionaires, three of whom are based in Dallas, Texas, and two of whom made their fortune in the oil and gas industry.
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The IRS filing of American Crossroads, an outside 527 group that was conceived by Rove and ex-RNC chair Ed Gillespie, gives a good taste of who is funding the GOP effort to make big gains in the House and Senate come the fall. The group has already burned through $600,000 on ads attacking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is facing a reelection contest against Republican Sharron Angle… Chaired by another ex-RNC chair, Mike Duncan, American Crossroads has pledged to raise $50 million to beat Democrats in the midterms and has been seen by some as a competitor to the Republican National Committee itself…
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[…] It’s also important to note that American Crossroads has set up a partner organization called American Crossroads GPS that, because it has a different tax status, does not have to reveal any donor information and is also more limited in spending its money on campaigns. American Crossroads GPS took in over $5 million in June, and we’ll likely never know who is putting up the money.
Video and further juicy details at the link. Makes Michael Steele’s accounting difficulties look positively penny-ante, eh?
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Quiddity
And don’t forget all those millionaires and billionaires running for public office. It really is amazing,
scav
@Quiddity: the rag-tag populist rising among the monied classes has been rather stunning this year, hasn’t it?
Corner Stone
“Don’t you talk to me about grammar!”
I’m not sure I have ever enjoyed a movie’s trailers as much as I have for Scott Pilgrim.
General Stuck
The thing is with these now limitless money groups funded by nervous plutocrats, when they start to rival the party national committee, things can get quickly out of hand on messaging. These groups are in the shadows by and large and are hard to hold responsible as separate entities from the RNC. So all the crazy shit coming our way will all get pinned to the GOP proper. All the tea bag nonsense and loopy ads about watering trees with blood of liberal tyrants, and the rest of the quasi racist horror show will all be processed by the public as republican.
And they have no single leader to act as a buffer to this effect and articulating what the right wing stands for.
And spending a boatload of money attacking Harry Reid cannot be very affective when your tea bag nutbug candidate is hold up in undisclosed locations.
I’ve been watching the polling turning toward dems in NV and KY with Paul, and the wingnut circus hasn’t really yet begun, until just after Labor Day. Money can’t by you love when you are insane.
The Dangerman
@Quiddity:
As a Californian, can I have a Fuck Meg Whitman?
DougJ
A few thoughts:
1) A good title for this would be “Billionaire Boys’ Club”.
2) Is there anyway we could have a Balloon-Juice ActBlue page named Balloon-Juice Crossroads GPS?
Jennifer
This could be countered with just one really good ad. I see something like this:
visuals – old white guys in suits kicked back in richly-panelled high-ceilinged room. Through the gracious 10 foot tall windows we see a variety of expensive cars parked outside. Fat cats are lighting cigars with $100 bills and joking among themselves. As voiceover goes on, servants come and go, bringing drinks and whisking away glasses. A few trophy wives wander in and out of the scene.
Voiceover –
Ok, aside from the fact that they own the Democrats too, still a pretty good kick to the nuts.
People really do not get this shit at all unless you connect the dots for them, in the most crass, over-the-top, and blatant way. So why the f*** don’t we do that?
asdf
Jennifer, that was excellent.
Church Lady
@Jennifer: Because John Kerry has a new kajillion dollar yacht that he is currently parking in Rhode Island, so as to avoid a whole lot of taxes in Massachusetts.
The problem with your idea is that the Dems in office are just as rich, if not richer, than the Republicans. Sort of waters down that message, eh?
ms badger
Jennifer, you are HIRED! Now I just need a 527 and some funding….
Jennifer
Church Lady – well, I granted that in my post.
But so what? The right doesn’t let things like that get in the way of painting the picture they want people to see. At the very least, they’d have to devote time and resources to making a “Oh, huh, YOU ARE!” defense.
And then you hit them again with another blistering message. And so on and so forth. The quibbling around the edges is unimportant – the big sell is on the central idea, and it’s true, which is an advantage for our side if only we’d use it.
Hal
Wasn’t this the same circumstance with Sarah Palin’s appearance at Cal State? A few big contributors and viola! Instead record setting numbers. Though Rove’s are actually kind of pathetic.
DougW
Go to the head of the class Ms. Jennifer! Maybe we could get Bill Gates or Howard Schultz to pony up a few million to create a really great ad.
Jennifer
@DougW:
Oh, I’ve got more.
I have a great idea for a PSA to educate people on what “class warfare” looks like.
And lots more.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@The Dangerman:
Ewww. Can I have Carly Fiorina instead, if I have to do a California Republican candidate?
Jager
Wonder what Karl and Ed pocket out of those donations or are they on the billionaire’s payroll full time?
Yutsano
@Jager:
I call this a distinction without a difference.
bago
Machete: I absolve you of all of your sins, now get the fuck out.
Roger Moore
@The Dangerman:
Only if you do so with the correct tool. I’m sure Sister Rusty Pitchfork of Decency will be happy to lend a hand.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@Roger Moore: Isn’t that Sister Rusty Pitchfork of Calm Reasoning?
Actually, probably not.
Cacti
@Church Lady:
Reminds me of when John Edwards was campaigning on the message of “Two Americas”…
While building a 6 million dollar, 28000 sq ft Orange County mansion.
WereBear
@Cacti: Yeah.
But it worked until he blew up.
Quiddity
@The Dangerman:
Meg Whitman R is a billionaire, Carly Fiorina R a millionaire, running in California. Rick Scott R is a millionaire, Jeff Greene D a billionaire, running in Florida. Sue Landon R a millionaire, ran in Nevada (but didn’t make it). Millionaire Linda McMahon R running in Massachusetts. Michael Bloomberg is a billionaire. And I’m sure there are others.
It shows that the party system is effectively broken, but that’s to be expected given recent trends in fundraising (and the laws and the Supreme Court). The thing is, the wealthy can buy elections, or at least get very close to winning. Whitman against (mere millionaire!) Steve Poizner was instructive. Poizner, whatever you think of him, was an established public official, already holding statewide office in California, and would probably have won if not for Whitman spending $80 million dollars in the primary campaign. That’s $50 dollars for each vote she got. How do you compete against that?
BTW, I’m in California and Whitman’s television ads were everywhere. And yet they contained nothing of substance (a lot was attacking Poizner as a liberal – which he isn’t). It was a lot of, “I’m Meg and I will fix California. Vote for me.”
toujoursdan
@Church Lady:
It really isn’t what they are but what they do. The presence of “champagne socialists” in the Democratic Party has never bothered me if they are still passing policies designed to help the middle class.
russell
They have all the money, now they want the government.
It’s their due.
Kris
@ Church Lady
No doubt Dem politiicians tend to be loaded (Sen. Jay Rockefeller) but at least they don’t go to the mat trying to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the rich…