The Karl Rove-linked secret money advocacy group Crossroads GPS announced a $25 million ad buy for the month of July targeting President Barack Obama. The ad, which poses as an issue ad and therefore eludes disclosure and tax laws, will run in the swing states of Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia. HuffPost reports, "The ad says the president is hiding behind excuses -- like Europe's ongoing financial troubles -- for continued economic stagnation in the U.S. by saying they're outside his control. But the real problem, the ad continues, is 'wild spending and skyrocketing debt.' 'We're suffering through one of the weakest economic recoveries in our history, and the only thing President Obama is offering is slogans and excuses,' Steven Law, president of Crossroads GPS, said in a statement. 'People are hungering for practical solutions to our skyrocketing debt and flat-lined economy, and that's what we are putting forward in our New Majority Agenda.'"
Slate's Dave Weigel asks if Crossroads GPS is just phoning it in compared to the far less well-funded Priorities USA Action, a super PAC backing President Obama: "'Cut the spending, cut the out of control debt.' Well, fine, that's certainly a message for the day of another bad jobs report. But ever since the end of the debt ceiling crisis, spending and debt have completely fallen off as voter bugaboos. There's some interesting psychological reinforcement here, because Obama's stalled/doomed jobs plan involved a lot of demand-side spending, paid for by tax hikes on the rich that had been polling well. But this is nowhere near as compelling as the Bain ads. For all the money being spent, it's so hard to follow up on some local Ohio newspaper's tale of a family in need and shoot video of them?"
New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait follows up with more to say about the Priorities ads, which, for all the moaning about poor fundraising, appear to be the most effective ads of the cycle, "One odd thing is that Romney has done so little to insulate himself against this line of attack. George W. Bush framed his entire campaign persona in 2000 so as to protect himself from charges of looking out for the rich — he called himself a compassionate conservative, he falsely claimed his tax cuts disproportionately benefitted the poor, he surrounded himself with cultural symbols of the middle class. Romney is a very rich man running on a platform of helping other rich people and doing almost nothing to deflect the most obvious political attack. ...the lack of defense against an obvious and seemingly quite potent attack is more than a little curious.."
USA Today runs side-by-side editorials, one from the paper calling for disclosure of secret outside money spent on elections and the other from Sen. Mitch McConnell calling disclosure un-American. McConnell, of course, once endorsed full disclosure for all spending in elections.
HuffPost's Anna Almendrala talked to one of the legislators behind California's move to pass a resolution calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling, "'No one is underestimating how difficult it is, and justifiably so, to amend the Constitution,' said Wieckowski. 'But being silent is worse. Failing to speak out, to organize, to hold rallies and to take action would be much worse.' 'That’s how you bring about change in this country. By going to city hall, the state Capitol and making your voice heard and shining a light on the issue.'"
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is raising a ton of money from lobbyists for her reelection campaign.
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Committee: Crossroads GPS
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "Excuses"
Market: Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Nevada, Ohio and Virginia.
Buy: $25 million.
Committee: Republican National Committee
Candidate Opposed: Barack Obama
Spot: "President Obama's Broken Promises on the Economy"
Market: Unknown.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: American Commitment
Candidate Opposed: Martin Heinrich
Spot: "Stands"
Market: New Mexico.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: American Commitment
Candidate Opposed: Tammy Baldwin
Spot: "Cheating"
Market: Wisconsin.
Buy: Undisclosed.
Committee: American Commitment
Candidate Opposed: Bill Nelson
Spot: "Facts"
Market: Florida.
Buy: Undisclosed.
TRACKING INDEPENDENT SPENDING:
These numbers represent spending by independent groups, like super PACs and non-profits, to support or oppose a particular candidate 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.
Presidential Race:
Mitt Romney (R), $7,337,304 to support, $21,038,167 to oppose. (Oppose: +$31,500)
Barack Obama (D), $882,828 to support, $9,706,373 to oppose. (Oppose: +$11,235)
Most Outside Spending for Congressional Candidates:
TX-Senate: Ted Cruz (R), $1,056,303 to support, $2,384,344 to oppose.
TX-Senate: David Dewhurst (R), $536,126 to support, $2,514,378 to oppose.
IN-Senate: Richard Mourdock (R), $1,454,11 to support, $1,280,052 to oppose.
OH-SEN: Josh Mandel (R), $183,235 to support, $1,739,326 to oppose.
IN-Senate: Dick Lugar (R), $208,628 to support, $2,160,814 to oppose.
RECENT INDEPENDENT EXPENDITURES
American Sunrise, $54,643 to support Patrick Murphy for Congress in Florida's 18th District.
National Right to Life Victory Fund, $11,235 to oppose Barack Obama for President.
Majority PAC, $396,488 to oppose Josh Mandel for Senate in Ohio.
SEIU COPE, $31,500 to oppose Mitt Romney for President.
Texas Conservatives Fund, $58,523 to oppose Ted Cruz for Senate in Texas.
RECENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE REGISTRATIONS
Puck PAC, Chicago, Ill., Treasurer: Barbara Quigley. (Leadership PAC: Mike Quigley)
Coalition for Healthcare Finance PAC, Washington, D.C., Treasurer: Thomas J. Boesen.
America's First PAC, Alexandria, Va., Treasurer: Chris Marston. (Leadership PAC: Rob Wittman)
Citizens Strengthening Our Majority in the House (C SMITH PAC), Hamilton, N.J., Treasurer: Mary M. Roldan. (Leadership PAC: Chris Smith)
Super Ninja PAC, Elma, N.Y., Treasurer: Ryan Smith. (Super PAC)
One Tax Initiative LLC, Arlington, Va., Treasurer: Richard Warren Hooper. (Super PAC)
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