Super Tuesday? More like super PAC Tuesday.
Today, voters in ten states will voice their preferences in the GOP's presidential nomination battle. But this year, the so-called Super Tuesday primary is shaping up to be just another act in the new blockbuster, Attack of the Super PACs. This off-Broadway play features puppet-masters named Adelson and Friess, billionaires who pull the strings on super PACs with innocent sounding names like "Winning the Future" and the "Red, White and Blue Fund." In the five days between February 29th and March 4th, these two PACs have put over $3.1 million into Super Tuesday expenditures on behalf of Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. And let's not forget Mitt Romney's water-carrier, "Restore Our Future," which has helped its candidate with $2.7 million during the same period.
Of course, we don't know how many other corporations and millionaires are behind the curtain because there is no mandatory disclosure of super PAC funders. In any event, the "future" these funders have in mind is not what most people would wish for. If it's Romney, which future is he seeking to restore? That of the robber-barons of old, when big Trusts had a stranglehold on the country? If Newt Gingrich's super PAC "wins the future," it will surely be a win for Wall Street and the one percent, not average Americans who long to reclaim their democracy.
If we do not push back on this new and alarming explosion of PAC spending, this Super Tuesday and every election Tuesday from here on out will be just another milestone marking the triumph of special interests over the public interest. I ask you to join me in modeling a different approach to campaign funding -- one that puts the grassroots back in charge of our political system. To learn more, visit us at www.grassrootsdonor.com.