Super PAC money dominates in 2016 race
08/03/15 08:00 AM—UPDATED 08/03/15 10:33 AM
By Steve Benen
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Note, the lighter colors – red for Republicans, blue for Democrats – show how much money the candidates have raised through their actual campaigns, while the darker colors show how much has been raised by the candidates’ allied entities.
A few caveats are in order. For example, the totals raised by the campaigns themselves are skewed a bit by the amount of time some candidates have been in the race. A candidate who launched in March (Ted Cruz, for example) has had considerably more time to raise money than candidates who launched in July (Scott Walker, for example). It makes apples-to-apples comparisons tricky.
Also note, Marco Rubio transferred a few million dollars from his Senate campaign account, which is added to his overall totals, while Bernie Sanders, has no support from outside groups, which he’s avoided for ideological reasons.
Those details matter, of course, but the angle that matters most is the astounding degree to which candidates are now dependent on millionaires and billionaires. The Washington Post’s report noted, “Never before has so much money been donated by such a small number of people so early.”
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Complete article:
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/super-pac-money-dominates-2016-race?cid=eml_mra_20150803
