Newt Gingrich is trying to catch up in the fundraising department. He has raised $4 million since October, according to his campaign. Not quite the torrent of cash that Herman Cain was seeing during the weeks before his withdrawal form the race, but still almost more than Gingrich has raised all year. Gingrich allies are also working on getting super PACs up and running. [LAT]
Mitt Romney's Super PAC went all in on their anti-Newt Gingrich ad. In Iowa, Restore Our Future dropped $826,718 on the anti-Newt ad and $0 on their pro-Romney ad. [HuffPost]
What does Newt think about Super PACs anyways? "If anybody does go out and create any kind of super PAC using my name -- if they run any negative ads, we will attack them and we will encourage people to give them no money. See we have this weird super PAC business because we have this totally Byzantine federal election law. Having said that, I will also tell you none of my surrogates will be encouraged to go out and attack anyone." [Examiner]
The Karl Rove-linked Crossroads groups are heavily reliant on their secret money arm, Crossroads GPS, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Of the $95 million that they have reportedly raised $60.3 million went to Crossroads GPS, which does not have to disclose its donors. [CRP]
Barack Obama has raised more money from business executives than any other candidate currently running. Mitt Romney comes in second. Putting this in perspective, Obama has raised far more money overall than other candidates. As the Bloomberg report notes, "Executives account for 6 percent of Obama's total contributions, and 16 percent of Romney's." [Bloomberg]
GOP Super PAC heads talk about money in politics: "Neither side is going to unilaterally disarm." [CSM]
Court strikes down Wisconsin campaign finance law limiting contributions to independent groups to $10,000. This was an expected ruling to put Wisconsin's laws in line with the post-Citizens United understanding of campaign finance law. [Reuters]
As predicted, Super PACs are beginning to switch their filing status so that they can avoid disclosing their donors before the Iowa caucus.
CAMPAIGN VIDEOS
Help us populate our list of campaign videos. Send any notable TV, radio or web ads that you see to Fundrace. Send your submissions to paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.
Committee: Mitt Romney for President
Candidate opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "A New Captain" -- Playing off of the president's interview on "60 Minutes" on Sunday night this video from the Romney campaign calls for a new captain to steer the economy. President Obama's line that it will, "Probably take more than one president," is used as the center piece of the video.
Link: [http://youtu.be/rZFr-LbWeMU]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Republican National Committee
Candidate opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "Just A Vision" -- After a litany of statistics highlighting the distressed situation of the economy and the American people this RNC ad uses a quote from President Obama's "60 Minutes" interview to indicate that the president is not presenting solutions to the jobs crisis. Obama is shown saying that his job is to, "put forward a vision that benefits the vast majority of Americans." The ad ends with the text reading, "America needs jobs not merely 'a vision.'"
Link: [http://youtu.be/TI2JhR840JQ]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Democratic National Committee
Candidate opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "Simply Out Of Touch - Ten Thousand Times Over" -- The DNC takes advantage of the most memorable moment from Saturday night's GOP debate with this video poking fun at Mitt Romney for making a $10,000 bet, something few people regularly do outside of the school playground. (School playground bets actually tend to be in the zillions of dollars.) The ad uses previous statements by Romney about the pay-roll tax extension being a "little Band-Aid" to make him seem even more out-of-touch in light of the $10,000 bet.
Link: [http://youtu.be/WyQYGAWm_r4]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Rick Perry for President
Candidate opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "The Truth Cannot Be Bought" -- Rick Perry, the man who looked dumbfounded to have been offered a $10,000 bet on national television, released this video over the weekend about the bizarre bet by Romney. The video includes ABC News anchors discussing that $10,000 would be about three months income for a median income family in Iowa.
Link: [http://youtu.be/Db2t88WXydM]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Jon Huntsman for President
Candidate opposed: Mitt Romney
Spot: "Challenge Accepted" -- Jon Huntsman, the most anti-Romney candidate in the race, put this video accepting Romney's $10,000 bet online shortly after the debate. The bet was that Romney had not advocated for other states to adopt Massachusetts' health care mandate and that he had not removed a passage from his book advocating the same thing. Huntsman's video features footage of Romney supporting the national adoption of a health care mandate.
Link: [http://youtu.be/0CQZZEsJ7v8]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Democratic National Committee
Candidate opposed: Newt Gingrich
Spot: "Original Tea Partier" -- In the first rapid response video targeting the new GOP front runner Newt Gingrich the DNC labels him the original Tea Partier. The video includes a rehashing of issues that Gingrich supported over his 30-plus year political career including privatizing Social Security, repealing child labor laws, ending Medicare, killing the Department of Education, and supporting tax loopholes.
Link: [http://youtu.be/XrxkLI0aG_k]
Market: YouTube
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Crossroads GPS
Candidate opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "Typical" -- This ad from the conservative non-profit Crossroads GPS slams President Obama over the loan to the failed energy company Solyndra.
Link: [http://youtu.be/L3UNOsHgbFI]
Market: National cable
Buy: $500,000
Committee: Republican National Committee
Candidate opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "He'd Rather Raise Taxes" -- The RNC hits the president for his vow to veto any payroll tax bill that includes language related to the Keystone XL pipeline.
Link: [http://youtu.be/RO2u9qnnDHE]
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: George Allen for Senate
Candidate opposed: Tim Kaine
Spot: "Going To Be Great?" -- Democratic Senate candidate Tim Kaine is hit by his opponent, George Allen, in this video for supporting the president's health care reform law. Kaine is pictured saying, "Health care reform is going to go down in history as one of the great achievements of this president." This is juxtaposed with newspaper clips saying that the health care law "stinks."
Link: [http://youtu.be/qzOWyXBBeHc]
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Virginia Democratic Party
Candidate opposed: George Allen
Spot: "Priceless" -- This web video mimics the "priceless" MasterCard commercials with the prices of spending supported by George Allen when he was senator. Allen's line from a recent debate is used twice, "In the years when I was in the Senate, yeah, [spending] was a problem."
Link: [http://youtu.be/iND5aYygio0]
Market: YouTube.
Buy: None. Just a web video.
Committee: Majority PAC
Candidate supported: Ben Nelson
Spot: "Ben Nelson Working for Nebraska's Seniors" -- This ad from the Democratic Super PAC supports Sen. Ben Nelson for protecting Medicare while "tearing up Washington's credit card."
Link: [http://youtu.be/A1Nw5po-Z5c]
Market: Nebraska.
Buy: Part of a $176,421 buy.
Committee: Scott Walker for Governor
Candidate supported: Scott Walker
Spot: "Wisconsin Success" -- The fourth ad supporting Gov. Scott Walker as he faces a potential recall features a small business owner discussing his support for Walker's small business agenda.
Link: [http://youtu.be/sscWf1Mf1zg]
Market: Wisconsin
Buy: Undisclosed
Committee: Suzanne Bonamici for Congress
Candidate supported: Suzanne Bonamici
Spot: "Congress' Priorities Are Upside Down" -- Bonamici, the Democrat running in the special election in Oregon's 1st district, explains why we should be smart about what gets cut when we discuss spending and the debt. Bonamici opposes cuts to college funding and job training while preserving tax cuts for oil companies.
Link: [http://youtu.be/GVj1t2rsgPM]
Market: Oregon 1st District
Buy: Undisclosed
TRACKING INDEPENDENT SPENDING IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
These numbers represent spending by independent groups, like super PACs and non-profits, to support or oppose a particular candidate for the presidency in 2012. Fundrace will update this spending daily to help show which candidates are gaining from the proliferation of independent groups in this coming election.
Rick Perry (R), $1,472,681 to support, $0 to oppose.
Jon Huntsman (R), $1,455,473 to support, $0 to oppose.
Mitt Romney (R), $826,718 to support, $329,473 to oppose.
Herman Cain (R), $462,217 to support, $0 to oppose.
Barack Obama (D), $0 to support, $357,929 to oppose.
Gary Johnson (R), $518 to support, $0 to oppose.
*Numbers have been changed to reflect actual filings with the FEC and are no longer also based on media reports.
RECENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE REGISTRATIONS
NONE.
RECENT INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
Restore Our Future, $826,718 to oppose Newt Gingrich.
Club for Growth, $12,192 to support Steve King.
Club for Growth, $15,012 to support Ted Cruz.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $4,413 to oppose Rob Cornilles.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, $88,112 to support Suzanne Bonamici.
Send tips, hints, submissions, rumors to HuffPost Fundrace at paulblumenthal@huffingtonpost.com.