Curse Of The Super PACs

guardian.co.uk — The arrival of Super PACs has allowed corporate big money to take control of the electoral campaign process to an unprecedented degree. The ability of the uncharismatic and relatively moderate (in Republican party terms) Mitt Romney to exert an increasing stranglehold over his party's nomination race has many causes, but the sheer size of Mr Romney's Super PAC, Restore Our Future, is certainly a crucial one of them. Four years ago, Barack Obama raised a huge campaign war chest of his own, but insisted he did not want to be beholden to outside groups. This month, though, the president has begun signalling that he wants wealthy donors to contribute to Priorities USA Action, one of the leading Democratic Super PACs. Mr. Obama has done this simply because he risks being overwhelmed by hostile Super PAC spending if he does not. More than ever before, American politics in 2012 is politics for sale — to the biggest donors.

more »