Looking to 2012, Republicans Vie for Big Donors

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times

Mitt Romney is not running for president, yet. But a handful of big donors have each contributed in the realm of $100,000, or more, to Mr. Romney this year through a network of state political action committees he has set up that enable him to avoid federal campaign finance limits.

Through a similar arrangement, the Minnesota governor and a potential 2012 contender, Tim Pawlenty, collected $60,000 in late September from a Texas home builder, Bob J. Perry, one of the Republican Party’s largest donors, and his wife, Doylene, and has taken sizable contributions from a slew of others.

The money, which has gone to the politicians’ “leadership PACs,” is not allowed to be used to fuel a presidential run, but it often acts as seed money to help raise a potential candidate’s national profile and provide financing to other politicians who can help him later. The contributions can also build an infrastructure of staff, offices and donors that can be later transformed into a full-fledged campaign, but this kind of spending also carries the potential of tripping over campaign finance laws.

The outsize contributions are possible because while donations to federal PACs are limited to $5,000, many state-based entities have no such limits. Some can also take donations from corporations and unions, which federal PACs cannot directly do.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/us/politics/13donate.html

[tomm2thumbs]

1. lucky Meg Whitman's attempt to buy an election proved money does not always win

but it sure makes it a helluva pain in the ass and keeps the playing field tilted towards the rich & their interests

hopefully the idiots who threw money at the tea party will find themselves eaten alive by their own hand-fed pit bulls

[TomCADem]

3. That is because Californian Progressives Ignored Latinos For Reform Type Calls...

...to teach Democrats a lesson by staying home at the polls in 2010.

[glinda]

2. Please heed this call: Pawlenty needs to come down "sooner" rather than later.

Dems will be very sorry that they allow him to continue to even be in the eye of the public.

[classysassy]

4. Until money is removed

from politics,democracy is just a sham.