Financing the 2012 Election by David B. Magleby

Author:David B. Magleby [Magleby, David B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: National, Political Science, Executive Branch, American Government, General
ISBN: 9780815725633
Google: dy0SnwEACAAJ
Goodreads: 20484711
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
Published: 2014-01-15T09:15:01+00:00

Independent Expenditures and Super PACs

Super PACs were the most important new addition to campaign finance in the 2012 election. Just as Super PACs played an important role in the Republican primary, they continued to play a role in the general election. As table 4-3 shows, Super PACs and other independent groups supporting Governor Romney spent twice as much money, $51 million, in support of Romney, compared to just $24 million spent by Super PACs and other independent expenditure groups in support of Obama. Groups self-report whether their independent spending is for or against a candidate, though how groups categorize the spending (for or against a candidate) is at the discretion of the group. The vast majority of spending related to President Obama was in opposition to him. Super PACs spent almost $150 million, and other independent expenditure groups spent another $77 million, in opposition to Obama. In contrast, only $57 million was spent by Super PACs and other independent groups against Romney.

Table 4-6 lists the twenty-eight groups that spent more than $1 million in independent expenditures in the 2012 general election. The independent expenditures could have been by a Super PAC funded by unlimited contributions or a traditional PAC funded by limited contributions. Of the twenty-eight groups, just eight were pro-Democratic. Moreover, the total spent by the eight pro-Democratic groups was just over $72 million, about $10 million less than the nearly $82 million spent by American Crossroads, a pro-Republican Super PAC, alone.

However, though the Romney campaign seemed to benefit from Super PAC and other outside spending, such spending was not as efficient as the spending by the Obama campaign itself. The following observation by Neil Newhouse, Romney's campaign pollster, illustrates the problems Super PACs faced: “It makes the [Super PAC] money, to some extent, less effective…because they pay higher rates for advertising, they're not always on message with where the campaign wants to go, they don't necessarily anticipate the strategic direction the campaign's headed in.”37

Super PAC spending is not only less efficient than candidate spending, it is also more limited. Most Super PACs concentrate their efforts on paid media, particularly broadcast advertising, and much of that advertising is negative. Charles Spies, the counsel and treasurer of Restore Our Future, makes this point:

Super PACs are very good at negative definition of your opponent. That's the easiest thing for an outside group to do and has the dual benefit of the negative message not having to come from the candidate…. What Super PACs are not, I think, equipped to do is positively defining candidates…. Just having an outside group trying to drive a positive message is very difficult.38

Table 4-6. Independent Expenditures by Top Groups, 2012 Presidential General Electiona

Group Total expenditures Partisan classificationb

American Crossroads 81,825,519 Republican

Restore Our Future 60,163,810 Republican

Priorities USA Action 42,990,224 Democratic

Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies 22,146,280 Republican

American Future Fund 19,201,429 Republican

National Rifle Association 17,918,863 Republican

Americans for Prosperity 13,298,158 Republican

Service Employees International Union 10,900,070 Democratic

Ending Spending Action Fund 9,910,670 Republican

Americans for Responsible Leadership 8,799,450 Republican

Planned Parenthood 8,249,773 Democratic

Americans for Job Security

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