Enlarge image President Barack Obama Greets Supporters Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images President Barack Obama greets supporters after speaking at a campaign fundraiser at the Sheraton Hotel in New York. President Barack Obama greets supporters after speaking at a campaign fundraiser at the Sheraton Hotel in New York. Photographer: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are on track to raise more than $1.5 billion to finance their presidential campaigns, and only an elite segment of the electorate will see them do it: their own donors. At an Obama fundraiser in February, reporters waited in a damp garage for more than an hour before being ushered into the Seattle-area mansion owned by Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST) Chairman Jeff Brotman and his wife. They stayed inside for ... Continue reading →
Enlarge image 2004 Presidential Campaign Stephen Crowley/The New York Times via Redux George W. Bush supporters at a rally for Sen. John Kerry in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 28, 2004. George W. Bush supporters at a rally for Sen. John Kerry in Madison, Wis., on Oct. 28, 2004. Photographer: Stephen Crowley/The New York Times via Redux In March 2004, as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry emerged as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, then-President George W. Bush was ready to strike, dropping $40 million on ads that mostly attacked his opponent on defense spending, terrorism and taxes. Kerry’s negative ratings with voters rose to 37 percent in mid-April from 26 percent in mid-February, according to Gallup polls. Though the race remained close in head-to-head matchups, the Democrat’s ... Continue reading →
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The intensifying flood of uncapped donations to outside political groups is transforming not just campaigns but the entire business of politics. Ric Francis/Associated Press Fred Davis, a political consultant, at home in 2006. He likes working for outside groups because “you don’t have to go anywhere.” A one-stop destination for the latest political news — from The Times and other top sources. Plus opinion, polls, campaign data and video. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times Bob Schuman, who ran a “super PAC,” said such groups benefited from a lack of interference from a candidate’s associates. Once seasonal affairs, campaigns from the presidential race down to House contests are becoming longer and more intense, driven by deep-pocketed donors eager to see incumbents pummeled throughout the ... Continue reading →
Four years ago, Barack Obama became the first Democratic presidential nominee in at least two decades to outspend the Republican challenger. The incumbent president shouldn’t expect the same advantage this time. Super-political action committees backing the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney are raising money at a faster clip than Democrats, threatening to erase an Obama financial advantage that allowed him to expand the battleground map in 2008 to include such states as Indiana and North Carolina. The incumbent’s 12-to-1 financial advantage at the end of April over Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, shrunk to less than 2-to-1 when the bank accounts of the national party committees and friendly super-PACs were added. “Those people who can and are willing to write seven- and eight-figure checks are ... Continue reading →
Enlarge image Joe Ricketts Kris Connor/Getty Images for Roadside Attractions Joe Ricketts last year in Washington, DC. Joe Ricketts last year in Washington, DC. Photographer: Kris Connor/Getty Images for Roadside Attractions For two years, Joe Ricketts has been building a political operation seeking to curb government spending that could have reached a crescendo in August with an unexpected, multimillion dollar attack on President Barack Obama. The admission by a Ricketts’ spokesman yesterday that one proposed advertising campaign focused on the president’s relationship with a Chicago preacher known for racially charged sermons removed the element of surprise, increased scrutiny of his political activity and put at a negotiating disadvantage one of the Ricketts family’s prized possessions -- the Chicago Cubs. “Not only was this plan merely ... Continue reading →
