Tag Archives: Super PAC

Super Pacs are Over-Rated

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

It is conventional wisdom that the rise of the so-called Super Pac is good for the Republican Party.

That is false.

The Super Pac is very good for some campaign consultants who want to ply their trade without having to consult directly with the pesky candidate. But they have been bad for the party as a whole.

Rick Santorum wouldn’t still be in the race if it weren’t for his Super Pac. Newt Gingrich wouldn’t still be in the race if it weren’t for his Super Pac. Those two Super Pacs have largely been funded by two rich guys who kind of like Rick and Newt.

The New York Times reported a couple of weeks ago that one rich guy gave money to the Rick Super Pac, the Newt Super Pac, and the Mitt Super Pac. Those Super Pac dollars were then used to beat the hell out of Rick, Newt and Mitt. So, in a sense, this one rich guy spent a million dollars so that Republicans could attack each other. Continue reading →

The Importance of Being Ironic

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

I was wrong.

I wrote a blog post a couple of years ago where I made the claim that Stephen Colbert is not funny.

My friend Gayle Osterberg said I was wrong and she was right.

Colbert is funny. But these days, he is not only funny. He is funny and his humor is dead on when it comes to the political process.

Instead of criticizing the ridiculous state of our campaign finance laws head on, Mr. Colbert would rather show how ridiculous the laws are by participating directly in them.

By first announcing that he was starting a Super Pac and then by handing off the Super Pac to his good friend Jon Stewart, and then announcing that he was starting a exploratory committee because he was thinking about running for President, Stephen Colbert showed how incredibly silly our campaign laws are. Continue reading →

Negative Ads

BY RICH GALEN
Reprinted from Mullings.com

We are at the point in the Presidential election cycle when the campaigns – and their allies – begin to run negative ads.

Everyone hates negative ads. Candidate after candidate vows he or she will “never go negative.” Supporters – especially donors – vow to leave the campaign if negative ads are even discussed, much less produced and put on TV.

Yet … yet … negative ads are a part of almost every campaign.

Mentor and friend Ed Rollins was a pretty fair Golden Gloves boxer when he was young. He has approached campaigns like he would a fight: You have to be prepared to throw a punch, take a punch, and throw a counter-punch. If you didn’t have the stomach for that, become a CPA, not a candidate for public office.

One of the first consultants I worked for was named Paul Newman. True.

Paul warned candidates that there would probably come a time when he would recommend the campaign – as he put it – “turn mother’s picture to the wall” and flay the skin off the opponent. Continue reading →