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Dem Donors Plot Campaign Battle Against $889 Million Koch Behemoth
Dem Donors Plot Campaign Battle Against $889 Million Koch Behemoth
1/28/15
WASHINGTON -- Reactions from Democrats to news that the billionaire Koch brothers are planning an $889 million blitz for the 2016 election has run the gamut from outright alarm to shoulder shrugs....
..."I’m not panicked by this," said Steve Elmendorf, a longtime Democratic adviser, lobbyist and donor with close ties to the Clintons. "I think it is unfortunate that two people can spend that much money in politics. But we will just have to redouble our efforts. … What are people supposed to do: 'Oh my god, we have to go out and find a billionaire!' People can wring their hands and say this is terrible. But we don’t have people like that, we just don’t."
What Democrats do have, Elmendorf added, is a number of very wealthy donors who are interested more in specific causes than party politics. And while their money has certainly helped elect like-minded individuals to office, it likely will be neither vast enough to match conservative resources nor uniformly directed enough to lift all Democratic lawmakers.
Gara LaMarche, president of the Democracy Alliance, a network of liberal donors, said that many of the group's members "are very active in the electoral sphere, and will work hard for the election of progressives to the White House, Congress and State Houses." But the money the group spent -- and LaMarche said they expect to exceed all "previous contribution records" -- would go toward other functions as well.
"Many have asked whether progressive donors, in the Democracy Alliance and related organizations, will match [the Koch brothers]. But that's the wrong question," emailed LaMarche. "[O]ur donors are focused on building a long-term infrastructure at the state, local and national level, to push for progressive values and policies no matter what party is in office."
Democrats have more recently streamlined their super PAC infrastructure. They’ve set up entities that allow donors to focus on specific races, and have sought to create a highly coordinated operation within their network of groups. They have also expanded this approach to state-level campaigns with the launch of super PACs targeting state legislative races and secretary of state campaigns. In the State Innovation Exchange, Democratic operatives have even created a progressive counterweight to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit forum for corporations, conservative activists and state lawmakers to draft conservative legislation together.
Much of this is to catch up to the political and policy apparatus receiving funding from the Kochs and their donor network. The Kochs have been ahead of the game in capital-intensive political efforts: launching state affiliates of their Americans for Prosperity; funding ALEC; and engaging in state elections at all levels. They are now trying to match the Democratic strength in labor-intensive political organizing, as they plan to hire 1,500 grassroots organizers for their 2016 push, according to Politico.
Even if they cannot match the Kochs’ $889 million, Democrats believe they can compete if they maintain the disciplined approach taken in the 2012 election.
“At the end of the day the Republican and conservative groups are always going to win this kind of spending arms race,” Brock said. “What we’ve found is that we need a healthy amount of resources in order to be competitive but we don’t need to match them dollar for dollar.”...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/28/koch-brothers-2016_n_6564948.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
1/28/15
WASHINGTON -- Reactions from Democrats to news that the billionaire Koch brothers are planning an $889 million blitz for the 2016 election has run the gamut from outright alarm to shoulder shrugs....
..."I’m not panicked by this," said Steve Elmendorf, a longtime Democratic adviser, lobbyist and donor with close ties to the Clintons. "I think it is unfortunate that two people can spend that much money in politics. But we will just have to redouble our efforts. … What are people supposed to do: 'Oh my god, we have to go out and find a billionaire!' People can wring their hands and say this is terrible. But we don’t have people like that, we just don’t."
What Democrats do have, Elmendorf added, is a number of very wealthy donors who are interested more in specific causes than party politics. And while their money has certainly helped elect like-minded individuals to office, it likely will be neither vast enough to match conservative resources nor uniformly directed enough to lift all Democratic lawmakers.
Gara LaMarche, president of the Democracy Alliance, a network of liberal donors, said that many of the group's members "are very active in the electoral sphere, and will work hard for the election of progressives to the White House, Congress and State Houses." But the money the group spent -- and LaMarche said they expect to exceed all "previous contribution records" -- would go toward other functions as well.
"Many have asked whether progressive donors, in the Democracy Alliance and related organizations, will match [the Koch brothers]. But that's the wrong question," emailed LaMarche. "[O]ur donors are focused on building a long-term infrastructure at the state, local and national level, to push for progressive values and policies no matter what party is in office."
Democrats have more recently streamlined their super PAC infrastructure. They’ve set up entities that allow donors to focus on specific races, and have sought to create a highly coordinated operation within their network of groups. They have also expanded this approach to state-level campaigns with the launch of super PACs targeting state legislative races and secretary of state campaigns. In the State Innovation Exchange, Democratic operatives have even created a progressive counterweight to the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council, a nonprofit forum for corporations, conservative activists and state lawmakers to draft conservative legislation together.
Much of this is to catch up to the political and policy apparatus receiving funding from the Kochs and their donor network. The Kochs have been ahead of the game in capital-intensive political efforts: launching state affiliates of their Americans for Prosperity; funding ALEC; and engaging in state elections at all levels. They are now trying to match the Democratic strength in labor-intensive political organizing, as they plan to hire 1,500 grassroots organizers for their 2016 push, according to Politico.
Even if they cannot match the Kochs’ $889 million, Democrats believe they can compete if they maintain the disciplined approach taken in the 2012 election.
“At the end of the day the Republican and conservative groups are always going to win this kind of spending arms race,” Brock said. “What we’ve found is that we need a healthy amount of resources in order to be competitive but we don’t need to match them dollar for dollar.”...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/28/koch-brothers-2016_n_6564948.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
4 replies
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