Bill Maher had a live special on Yahoo last night and ended it with a million dollar donation to the Obama SuperPAC. Since that PAC raised $59,000 last month, I hope this starts a trend of rich liberals throwing down big money. Here’s the whole special if you’re interested.
In addition to SuperPACs, the Obama campaign is doing pretty well raising money directly from donors. It picked up $36.8 million in January, versus Romney’s $6.5 million take, and outspent the Romney campaign in Q4 2011 by almost $22 million. While Romney and his SuperPAC are wasting money fighting off the not-Romney of the moment, Obama is opening field offices. Romney is also having a hard time raising money from small donors. In January, he raised the least of the four remaining GOP candidates ($1.6 million) from donations under the reporting limit of $200.
Between the negative ads sucking up all the cash, and the debates turning off all the women and minorities, this primary season is going to go into the history books in the same way 1976 did for Republicans or 1980 did for Democrats. The only difference is the early schedule might give Mitt a chance to hide and retool for a few months before the convention, and he better, because his favorables go down every time his mug appears on a TV screen.
Betty Cracker
I wonder if hiding and retooling are even an option in the age of the 24-hour news cycle.
Schlemizel
Maher can be a bit of a dick, definitely a misogynist and an ego case but he is fun to watch. I had no idea a once weekly show on cable could pay that kind of money. Good on ya mate.
Irving
I’m beginning to think that Romney’s reliance on SuperPACs is, Veritas’s rantings aside, a liability instead of an asset. SuperPACs can’t create field offices, recruit volunteers, or do much of anything to actively build up their candidate, which is what Romney needs. Romney’s organization is the best in the Republican field but that’s not saying much – Obama’s is much better. What Romney needs is a version of MoveOn, but I doubt he’s going to get it with so little time.
c u n d gulag
I see big bonuses this year for the people who run the Ad Sales Divisions of TV and radio companies.
Maybe even newspapers, where they still exist.
This is going to be an even uglier election year than 2008.
Violet
If Romney can’t tie up the nomination before the convention, the bad publicity isn’t going to go away at all. Endless talking head discussions about how the convention is going to work, will there be smoke-filled rooms, why couldn’t Mittens seal the deal, do Teabaggers feel ignored, etc. There’s nothing they’d like better than a nomination that isn’t a done deal by Tampa.
Frank
@Irving:
The SuperPAC’s seemed to have done just fine in 2010 when it outspent the Dems by huge margins. They won the house big and should have won the Senate. I am sure they can tear apart Obama just like they have done with Gingrich etc.
It is amazing how easily people are swayed by negative ads.
wilfred
Superpacs are the buying of American democracy, it doesn’t matter if the buyers are people you like, or people who support what you believe in.
Obama could have said the following: “Superpacs suck. I will renounce them if my opponents do, because they cheapen the country and make everyone a two dollar crack whore. However, If my opponents refuse to renounce this money, neither will I”.
Only he didn’t. You can whore the country and pray you win, but you’re still a whore.
The rest is rationalization.
superdestroyer
Shouldn’t Democrats donate more money to PACS that are going to effect the Congressional election. President Obama is a lock for re-election and will get 250 electoral college wihtout spending a dollar.
Since the Republicans are going to nominate a weak candidate who will have no chance of winning, why not put the money in the congressional elections where the Democrats now stand a good chance of returning Nancy Pelosi as Speaker.
mistermix
@Schlemizel: You left out a bit of a racist.
@Betty Cracker: If the primary is over he can stop campaigning for a while and just have his campaign throw out press releases. If, as Violet points out. the campaign goes on forever, then he’s in trouble.
Dave S.
Pass the Dijon ketchup!
Linda Featheringill
Looking good for Our Side right now.
I would like to see Obama’s favorable ratings high enough to weather a couple of storms in the summer and fall. No, I don’t know where they’ll come from but I do expect some trouble ahead.
Schlemizel
@c u n d gulag:
We are already getting some bullshit PACs ads for some dickweed GOOPer running for Congress in Western Wisconsin on Minneapolis TV. As well as anti Obama ads from a different PAC.
It is going to be a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000g year
rikryah
the more you see Willard, the more you dislike him.
Schlemizel
@mistermix:
You are right. He can say things that make me cringe & want to smack him. I wish he could grow a bit but he is still willing to say things nobody else on TV will, often getting to the heart of the matter in ways nobody else will.
He is a troubling man for sure.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
OT: I heard on the news this morning that seven states, including Texas, are suing over the new contraceptive rule. We also have a rule here in Texas going into effect saying that places that perform abortions cannot receive Medicaid from the state.
chopper
@Irving:
what Romney really needs is enthusiasm. people aren’t going to volunteer to canvass for that dude, they aren’t exactly keen on going door to door to convince their neighbors to vote for him. all the super PAC money in the world ain’t gonna get you a ground game.
Felinious Wench
He’s about 50% for me. His Fundie Athiest anger, and his general bad mood can be overbearing, but he’s also willing to hit back.
scav
@Frank: Sure, yeah, but people, even idiots, have also demonstrated the ability to learn and adjust their behavior in a single lifetime and besides, too much of anything can ruin the effect. See @Schlemizel. You may be a discouraged voter, that too has been known to happen, willing to stay home but others are still ready to run the experiment because statistics of a single midterm election aren’t inevitable doom.
arguingwithsignposts
If we don’t re-elect him, we didn’t deserve him in the first place.
Comrade Javamanphil
@Dave S.: But we would eat Kraft dinner. We’d just eat more.
arguingwithsignposts
@wilfred:
Only he did.
jibeaux
I like Maher fine, although I expect if I had to spend an hour with him he’d get on my nerves. He doesn’t pull many punches, and reportedly for someone with such a zealous pot habit he has a pretty extraordinary work ethic.
What I like looking at the fundraising numbers is how few small donors Rmoney has compared to Obama, who not only has a ton of them but they’re mostly not tapped out to the max. Some of those folks, like me, are good for $10 a month until the election. It’s a tiny drop in the bucket for fundraising, but I think it’s a good gauge of enthusiasm.
Seanly
The big problem for Obama is that the Republicans are going to hang the conveniently rising gas prices around his neck. I worry Big Oil is going to hand this election to their preferred party.
jibeaux
@Comrade Javamanphil: with Dijon ketchup.
c u n d gulag
@chopper:
I think The Church of LDS will do whatever it takes to give him a solid ground game.
It’ll be “CALLING ALL MORMONS!”
They’ll see an evangelizing, and money-making, opportunity in having a Mormon President.
c u n d gulag
I also think the Church of LDS will help Mitt with small donors – aka: the faithful.
wilfred
@#21 arguingwithposts:
“If you ask me, would I love to take some of the big money out of politics, I would,” the president said. “Unfortunately, right now, partly because of Supreme Court rulings and a bunch of decisions out there, it is very hard to be able to get your message out without having some resources.”
In the end, there was essentially zero political upside to standing on principle and not trying to maximize campaign cash, says Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
“It was inevitable,” he says. “As we begin to see the Romney general election take shape and the willingness of donors to contribute in denominations of millions of dollars to that effort, you can’t ignore that reality.
“I would say this is all about pragmatism and political expediency.”
Yeah, well, I don’t agree with what yoo imply, or I infer, that Obama is so dead set against these things, but it hardly matters, does it?
The question is: ” What do the superpacs get in exchange for their money”?
That’s the question, no?
CarolDuhart2
@c u n d gulag: Not enough in enough states to outdo the Obama Army. And don’t forget there are Mormons who are Democrats as well who won’t be giving or going door to door.
In any event, where are the faithful now? Why aren’t they already doing things for him that help him more? There are some, but he’s still struggling in a lot of places.
Violet
@c u n d gulag:
That will only work in some states. In some key states, there aren’t enough Mormons to really make a big impact. The Mormon population in Ohio and Florida isn’t huge enough to do all the work.
jibeaux
@c u n d gulag: I hope they come in pairs, on bikes, wearing ties. “Turn out the vote for Mitt, boys! Hey, why isn’t ANYONE answering their door?”
Frank
@CarolDuhart2:
Almost 75% of all Mormons are Republicans.
pewforum.org/Christian/Mormon/mormons-in-america-executive-summary.aspx
I think they are doing plenty. He has a big machine helping him which is why he has survived so far in spite of being a horrible candidate. At the debate in Arizona, it seemed like every spectator in the debate location were Mormons or at least rooting for Romney.
scav
Poor wilfred. Just waking up and discovering big nasty corporations have donated to both / multiple candidates in elections for like, forever, and is now a sad little wilted sad face about it. if the world isn’t ideal, he doesn’t wanna play. Welcome to the shit and sausage house, where man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. We go to elections with the reality we have, where ag committees in IL are opining on women’s reproductive health and the nasty nasty LLC-people with money spend it hedging bets on elected officials. Ain’t no such thing as the fairy prince or president, but I personally can at least rank the losers from imperfect to worse and behave accordingly (albeit with a curse rather than a cheer).
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
There’s plenty more where that came from, unfortunately for us all.
Stav
Pretty sure Obama can do a good job of raising enough $$$ to combat conservative SuperPAC’s. Would rather see that big liberal SuperPac $$$ go towards winning House and Senate races. You gotta know the GOP knows that no one in this cadre of idiots is not going to win the White House, so they will gun for the House and Senate instead.
gnomedad
@scav:
The wingers are always urging liberals to fall on their swords in the name of honor. Cheered on, evidently, by wilfred.
daveNYC
Not to mention that Super-PACs are supposedly independent of the campaigns so even if a candidate renounced the use of them, there’s not a damn thing that could be done to actually make that stick.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
Romney might have a load of cash, but it seems all that money can’t buy him voter love. So Mr. Plastic, he improvises.
Put those paltry minions in land shark costumes, for added effect. WIN!
chopper
@arguingwithsignposts:
yes, but O didn’t use the ‘crack whore’ metaphor. which is what he wanted to hear.
Democratic Nihilist, Keeper Of Party Purity
What a shocker. People hate him.
wilfred
@scav:
Go fuck yourself, you aptly acronymed shite:
I’m not not urging anyone to fall on anything, other than principle.
Right, it was too fucking much to ask to renounce the poison of superpacs, because… well, I don’t fucking know why, really, being the product of an older, principle driven strand of, well, princple!
There. Scavengers suck the dried shit out of dead corpeses, while people of principle ask why it’s good for American democracy to not ask and stand for principle.
Rafer Janders
@Seanly:
*sigh* It’s a worldwide commodity, whose price is set by worldwide demand. The US oil industry doesn’t have the power to set gas prices if they wanted to.
scav
@gnomedad: they also rather mock us for being wimps and then fall over in outraged surprise when we use same unfallenupon swords on them instead. meanies! damn it! behave like my stereotype of you!
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@wilfred:
“American democracy”? But you’re a communist.
scav
@wilfred: Scavengers serve a role in the ecosystem so curse away. Shit exists. I’m not bothered. At least you can get angry at someone. But if you’re so old and wise and principled you simply can not be surprised that falling upon ones sword in the name of sacred principle is A) not very common and B) hasn’t been proven highly effective if the only technique of opposition.
ETA: I’m not playing a game of fairytale.
arguingwithsignposts
NADER 2012!
Amir Khalid
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero):
I’m surprised by this. Was there no available venue in Detroit bigger than a hotel ballroom but smaller than a football stadium e.g. a concert hall or a basketball arena?
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Amir Khalid:
Maybe a case of wishful thinking?
wilfred
@43 General Stuck:
Actually, I’m a Marxist, and a Muslim – thus a de facto communist.
Though I’m flattered since all I know about you is that you’re an authoritarian, knee-padded, cocksucking blowhard. But thanks for the interest.
Principle matters, or it doesn’t. Take a position, asshole.
@44 arguing with posts:
Oh, dear. “Pragamtism” is it. Is that it? Mutatis mutandis.
All it would take is someone, anyone, to piss on money in politics. Is that so goddamned difficult, really?
28 Percent
@Comrade Javamanphil: with elitist dijon ketchup!
scav
@wilfred: and I’m a pragmatic European-type Socialist/Green. Ain’t life complicated.
arguingwithsignposts
@wilfred:
Yes, it is wilfred. Yes, it is. Look at the fucking world around you for two goddam seconds and you’ll see that your unicorn pony circus can’t live there. Fuck, you want to be holier-than-thou, go to it. but don’t lecture those of us who have to live in a two-party system and understand how it works.
DFH no.6
Apropos to the headline only, but I love the Barenaked Ladies. Canuckistan produces some great indie music (Arcade Fire and The New Pornographers and Broken Social Scene – and it’s offshoots, like Metric – come immediately to mind, as do fairly obscure but excellent bands like Braids and Godspeed You! Black Emperor).
First heard BNL in concert back in ’90 when they were just starting out and touring small venues (saw them at a now-defunct little place – the Rocking Horse Saloon – in Scottsdale; their concert the day before in Tucson had been canceled, so they got the Phoenix crowd chanting “Fuck Tucson!” That was fun).
Saw them a few more times over the years in larger venues as they put out more music, but now their arc has waned (the muse has flown away, I’m afraid, as she always eventually does).
Still play them fairly frequently on the stereo equipment.
They were always very crowd-friendly – among the best in the business, I think – even with 20,000+ fans attending.
Bummer about Steve Page (sort of the band’s Lennon to Ed Robertson as their McCartney). Tortured artist and all that, I suppose.
Now back to your regularly scheduled campaign discussion…
Yutsano
@wilfred:
News flash for you: no politician in any country anywhere in the world wins an election without money. But you’re more interested in your principles. When you win an election on principle, get back to me. I got work to do on keeping the Senate semi-sane.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@wilfred:
Principle, from you. Ha ha. I already did take a position, it’s called not unilaterally disarming. It is playing by the rules that exist, but wanting to change those rules. Your principle (cough) is phony, like all the bullshit you post on this blog. And a ‘defacto communist’ nailing themselves to a not authoritarian’ cross, is like a republican claiming compassionate conservative status. You are a clown, dude. We laugh at your antics. Always have, always will. One note wilfred, always good for a laugh. suck on that, tiger.
Tone In DC
All of the truly pure among us can vote for Nader, Eugene Debs or FDR’s ghost.
Me, I just need to AVOID what happened in 2000 and 2010.
General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero)
@Yutsano:
wilfred doesn’t care about elections, nor democracy. His principle is the ultimate authoritarian. Governance by central committee, enforced by the bullet.
4tehlulz
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): From someone else’s gun, of course.
Yutsano
@4tehlulz: No, wilfred thinks he’ll be on the side of the gun holders. Which is even funnier.
amk
@arguingwithsignposts: firebagger assholes like wilfred are gonna see what firebagger assholes wanna see. Reality be damned.
feebog
@ Wilfred:
Ask Russ Feingold how that worked out for him.
252man
@ Amir Khalid The Red Wings played last night and play again Saturday night. I could see where the Joe Louis Arena people wouldn’t think Romney was worth draining the rink. And, Autorama (a hot rod and vintage car show of sorts) is at Cobo Hall (one of the Detroit Pistons’ many former buildings) this weekend.
daveNYC
@wilfred:
You know what matters in politics? Winning the election and then using your position to implement the policies you want. If you’re not in office, all the principles in the world won’t make a damn bit of difference. You can talk to Russ Feingold about that.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): Once again, someone posted a quote from her dad that fits here: “Suffering for your principles builds character; making others suffer for your principles is pride.”
Yutsano
@feebog: @daveNYC: Oh dear. You mentioned Saint Russ. I calmly await the outcries of apostasy that shall now emerge.
amk
@daveNYC: saint russ, blowhard grayson, exhibitionist weiner – there is a whole buncha political losers.
Jay C
@mistermix:
“1976 for Republicans or 1980 for Democrats“? You might want to check your metaphors for applicability, as the 2012 primary season differs from those two examples in one considerable detail. In both R-1976 and D-1980 the main primary dynamic was an intra-party challenge to a moderately-unpopular incumbent President – who would survive to get the nomination, but lose his re-election bid.
This year’s race more resembles the situations faced by Democrats in 1984, or Republicans in 1996: a reasonably-popular incumbent with no serious opposition in his own Party, and the “out” Party reduced to having to desperately scrape up a national candidate from a clutch of mediocrities. And hopefully, this year WILL turn out like the latter examples…
@Seanly:
Gas prices as an election issue? Unless the GOP can come up some non-magical proposal to actually lower them (and “drill, baby drill!” ain’t gonna cut it), neither Obama or the Republican are going to have much traction with this, I’m thinking.
More likely, the Republicans are just going to have to go with “social issues” (i.e. religious paranoia, gay-bashing and sex obsessions, flavored with a subtle hint of racism) as campaign themes: it’s what they do best.
batgirl
@Schlemizel: I’m in Chicago and we have begun getting ads for GOP House Republicans paid for by the Chamber of Commerce. Yes, it will be a long season.
Maus
@Schlemizel: Don’t forget anti-science.
forums.randi.org/showpost.php?p=941704&postcount=23
A quote from him promoting anti-vax conspiracies and showing his poor understanding of germ theory.
chopper
@Seanly:
they’ve already been tossing around the ‘we have 1.4 trillion barrels of oil in the ground but the gubmint won’t let companys drill it!’ shtick which is of course complete and utter horseshit.
if obama wanted to shut that down he could give an energy speech and bust out a bottle of kerogen from the green river formation and be all ‘bitches, does this white waxy shit look like fuckin’ crude? assholes, calling this ‘oil’ is like calling a cow ‘a stick of fuckin’ butter’.’
won’t stop the goopers from hammering the talking point, but at least we need to try to really educate people in this country about what oil am and what it aint.
Maus
Also
mediaite.com/tv/bill-mahers-medical-meltdown-turns-off-guests-confuses-audience/
gene108
@daveNYC:
Crossroads GPS blanketed the airwaves with anti-Adler ads, in NJ-03, that probably helped push Runyan over the top.
I don’t think any liberal group has thought to do what Rove has done and start their own all purpose SuperPAC to pour support for Democrats in various races.
Interrobang, eating Pizza Pizza
Barenaked Ladies reference FTW!
Wee Bey
I’m concerned for poor wilfred’s principles.
lethargytartare
@arguingwithsignposts:
yeah, but the WAY he said it didn’t give wilfred starbursts, or even a minor thrill up even one leg, ergo, all are bus underthrown or something.
Paul in KY
@General Stuck (Bravo Nope Zero): All they have to do is shoot a wide angle that shows the immensity of the place. I can’t believe they thought it would be a good idea to give a speech to 1,000 people inside the stadium.
He is definitely getting taken by his political operatives.
Paul in KY
@DFH no.6: Love their song ‘One Week’. Would like to see them in concert someday.
Billy Beane
I think Maher is a pretentious douche and question his motives for making such a public contribution. Does he want us to forget that criticism he had of Obama? Good thing we have the internet for it’s memory.
lvrj.com/news/maher-criticizes-obama-gop-129516018.html
Jebediah
@Billy Beane:
Maybe Maher is capable of both criticizing Obama when he disagrees with him AND believing that he is by far the best choice for President in 2012.
“Question his motive?” I think his motive is very obvious. He wants Obama re-elected.
ShadeTail
@wilfred:
Unlike you, we’ve taken the position that principle *does* matter, and so we’ll get ourselves into the position where we can act on our principles. You, however, don’t give even one little shit about principle, because you don’t want to act on your principles. You just want to sound sanctimonious about them. Lecture away, little child, while we actually work to change the world.