Unintended Consequences: SuperPAC's Go Rogue, But the Candidates Are the Ones Who Pay..

Mitt Romney Runs - Not Walks Like an Egyptian - Away From a PAC's Plan to Try and Repeat the 2008 Tie-In Between Obama and Wright...


    One of our top read posts was our 'SuperPAC's Are Superbad' story from January... The Supreme Court case that allowed these groups that aren't supposed to have any ties to the campaigns opened a Pandora's Box of unintended consequences. Why? Today was a great example of it, when a Chicago-area PAC was preparing to buy approximately $10 million in ads to be aired around the Democratic Convention.  The aim of the ad buy was to basically rehash the Jeremiah Wright tie-in to Barack Obama, which likely would air Wright's famous 'God Damn America' speech... This is the same strategy that John McCain nixed during the 2008 campaign.  


     This is truly the most dangerous part of SuperPAC's - when they decide that the campaign isn't going about things the right way - aka, how they'd do it - and they go Rogue.  The sad truth about this problem is that even though there may be the group's name in teeny, tiny print at the bottom of the ads, the voting public thinks that the candidate put it out.  So, even though Mitt Romney didn't concieve, make or pay for the ad, he would be the one paying for it...


   Hell, he already is... When the NY Times article came out about TD Ameritrade head and Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts (hmm, a Cubs fan who works on Wall Street - how could he NOT be against Obama?) entertaining plans on the ads, Obama hacks David Axelrod and Jim Messina went straight to work.  Even after Romney repudiated the PAC, Messina thought that a statement wasn't enough..


   The good news for Romney is that the story came out, and he quickly criticized it.  Hopefully, this will die, like many non-stories that aren't the fault of the campaigns.  However, it's another problem with SuperPAC's.... They're not allowed to co-ordinate or have any contact with the official campaigns.  Do they keep to that rule? We doubt it happens 100% of the time.  It being that way, a runaway SuperPAC could ultimately damage a campaign when it goes on it's own.  Will this one? It doesn't appear to, but somewhere, someone will pull off something that will hurt Romney at some point..


    How the Court ruled for this insanity is beyond us.  Big, unlimited money ruins what is a system that is already on the verge of being out of control.  By November, I guarantee we ALL will be begging for the end of SuperPAC's .  We're there now - some just take longer to get there..

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