Posted on 11/02/2015 4:48:32 AM PST by GIdget2004
The super PACs backing Cruz’s presidential run have yet to reserve any TV time in the early primary states – or anywhere else – despite a combined $38 million warchest that ranks second only to Jeb Bush’s $103 million operation.
The total absence of ads has created confusion and growing consternation inside the Cruz campaign, which cannot legally communicate with its allied super PACs and has had to watch as their rivals lock in tens of millions of dollars in ads before prices spike, as they typically do as elections near.
“I assume they’re waiting so their media buyers make the highest commission,†one Cruz adviser quipped.
While most 2016 candidates have one main super PAC backing them, the Cruz super PACS are a decentralized alliance of four independent but interconnected operations, each called some version of “Keep the Promise.†People familiar with the groups say they were designed that way to cater to the different big donors funding them.
Hedge fund manager Robert Mercer gave $11 million to one. Energy investor Toby Neugebauer gave $10 million to another. And the families of Dan and Farris Wilks, brothers who became billionaires in the Texas fracking boom, gave $15 million to a third.
Despite those huge sums virtually no Cruz TV ads have aired yet (a single ad ran during the Iowa-Iowa State football game in September) – and none are reserved yet. In contrast, outside groups backing Rubio and Bush are sitting on more than $50 million in reservations through the primaries, according to media trackers. Plus, millions in pro-Bush, pro-John Kasich, pro-Chris Christie and pro-Bobby Jindal ads have already aired.
Laura Barnett, spokeswoman for the Keep for Promise alliance, said booking TV time was “totally not even on my radar.â€
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
It’s up to the donors to push the PACS to do their jobs and to forget the hefty commissions.
I’m sure Politico is only thinking of Ted’s best interests /sarc.
If they can goad the PACs into spending all their money now they’re hoping they won’t have any funds when they’re really needed.
Or they might think they can “force” some reaction that the Left will wrongly say is coordination, but will harm Cruz campaign.
It isn’t the donors who are worried it’s the leftwing hacks like Politics who are. They see Cruz gaining in the polls without burning through campaign cash and realize that money can be spent later against the Den nnominee.
Is it possible Trump has provoked second thoughts about the use of superpacs?
Of all the other candidates, Cruz is by far the most astute, and it should be easy for him to see how he will be on the losing side of a powerful argument about what Cruz owes to the open borders plutocrats.
Perhaps he has already agreed with Donald that he will be his VP and no need to spend on TV ads.
I think hespecially following the strategy of, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
Pollutico is “concerned”. LOL
I’m in Atlanta and heard the first radio ad for Cruz this morning on WSB
I’d say they’re probably watching and following Ted’s lead. There are quite a few internet ads out there and the superpacs have made plenty of those I assume.
There can be coordination between SuperPACs and the campaigns right up until the moment a candidate declares.
All of this stuff is well planned out at that point, with different scenarios gamed out and all sorts of contingency plans.
If all of Cruz’s SuperPACs are dark, there’s a reason for it and it’s by plan and intent.
The reporters who write stories like these KNOW that. What they’re doing is fishing for evidence of illegal coordination/collusion.
It’s too early yet.
How does it feel to know that you’ve joined the far left? Bernie Sanders and Barrack Obama are nodding in agreement with you. SuperPACs are what caused Justice Alito to speak out against Obama at his state of the union address.
Despite the fantasy being promoted here, Trump didn’t reject the superPAC. The PAC was shut down due to the investigation of how they got their hands on Trump’s donor list. It costs big bucks to run and only a coward tries to force others out by demanding that they turn down support.
Our nation’s founders deliberately set up a system that allows rich and poor alike to run for office to avoid an aristocracy. There is something fundamentally wrong with wanting a nation where only the super rich can afford to run.
I don’t want an America where only a few dozen families are able to run for office.
One addition: the reporters might actually be trying to PROVOKE such illegal coordination/collusion.
The FEC does look at coordination via the press. If Cruz’s press person tells a reporter that they really wish there were more ads running in Iowa, and the SuperPACs suddenly start running ads there, that can qualify as Coordination.
Hard to prove, let alone have the toothless FEC do anything about, but enough to raise a big stink levelling accusations of illegal activities.
SuperPACs are a necessary evil to counter Democrat special interest group money, money that is often confiscated against the will of those providing it (union membership dues).
But the Union influence on elections isn’t going away. There needs to be a counterbalance to that. SuperPACs are it. Is it an unfortunate corruption of the system? Sure. But until the unions and the web of Democrat special interest money laundering operations (Planned Parenthood for instance) get thoroughly cleaned up it’s the best possible response.
If Trump were to get the nomination he would have to break his anti superPAC pledge because the democrats would bury him with special interest money and a complicit media.
despite a combined $38 million warchest
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Interesting contribution numbers to a $38 million total.
$11 million .. Robert Mercer
$10 million .. Toby Neugebauer
$15 million .. Dan and Farris Wilks families
$36 million .. Total
“If Trump were to get the nomination he would have to break his anti superPAC pledge because the democrats would bury him with special interest money and a complicit media.”
The whole thrust of getting behind Trump is overcoming the political nightmare that has been created by super PACs and complicit media. If Trump’s supporters can’t summon the intelligence and the will to ignore the absolute trash put out by them then, not only will Trump be buried, but America as well.
This is an endgame for this nation. It’s not politics as usual.
I agree with you. Sure Politico is worried for Ted’s interest. LOL
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