Politics has always been considered a dirty business in this country, but now it can be safely said, it's also one of the most expensive.
NBC is reporting in the second quarter of the year of our Lord, 2015 Jeb Bush's campaign raised $11.4 million. Not that big of a deal right? It's a figure which doesn't even count as a decent power ball jackpot. Well, Bush's campaign isn't going to be the biggest spender during his run for the nomination and if he wins, the wild sprint toward the White House.
That job is going to fall to a non-profit organization called, "Right to Rise." It is what is quaintly known as a Political Action Committee. In theory the PAC is a completely separate entity from the Bush campaign. In fact, in strict legal terms it is supposed to be simply a group of concerned citizens who want to perform a little community service while promoting their boy Jeb's presidential ambitions. That's correct, the law says as long as "Right to Rise" spends at least one more dollar bill on issues which promote the public good and welfare than it does on behalf of Jeb Bush, it can exist happily along side all those other non-profits, like the Red Cross, Wounded Warrior Project, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
In addition there are a couple of advantages concerned patrons find useful when donating to a Super PAC. First and foremost is those pesky federal election laws don't apply to PACs. You can not only remain an anonymous benefactor, but you can give as much hard, untraceable, cash as you want and no one will be the wiser.
That's why on Friday NBC declared it a good week for John Ellis Bush. While his campaign brought in $11.4 million, "Right to Rise," scored a cool $103 million.
That's not to say Governor Bush is any different than the rest of the mob running for the White House. Everyone and their dog has at least one Super PAC, if not two, or three. It's just that the Jebster is a lot more proficient at selling himself right now than everyone else.
NBC reported Bush's combined campaign/Super PAC money total was $114.4 million, while during the same time frame Hillary Clinton's combined total was $68.3 million, Ted Cruz's, $51 million and Carly Fiorina's, $4.8 million While the network didn't supply a campaign number for Marco Rubio, it did note a couple of his Super PACs raised a total of $31.8 million.
Of course, despite the noise Bernie Sanders has been making--his campaign raised, $15 million in the second quarter of this year--Mrs. Clinton's path to the nomination shouldn't be nearly as expensive as any of her republican opponents.
Meanwhile El Donald is still running wild. He was in Phoenix, AZ yesterday at a rally sponsored by the Maricopa County GOP, speaking in front of a crowd, estimated by his staff, to be at 9,000 souls. NBC put the number closer to 5,000, but then why quibble about such details.
Three people who weren't in attendance were both of Arizona's senators, Jeff Flake and John McCain, plus the state's governor, Doug Ducey.
Flake is so appalled by Trump, he issued a statement saying, "I'm disappointed the county party would host a speaker that so damages the party's image." To erase all doubt about where he stands, the Jr. Senator called Trump's views on immigration, "coarse, ill-informed, and inaccurate."
His opinion means little to the hard core tea party wanks who are in charge of the Maricopa County republican party. Former chairman, A.J. LaFaro was quoted as saying, "With regard to McCain, Flake, and the chambers; I don't respect any of those people anyway, so why should I care. They're not representative of me, or my conservative Christian values."
Well, what do you expect? A few months ago, during their Lincoln Day luncheon, this same coven of werewolves listened to the wit and wisdom of that eminent constitutional scholar, Ted Nugent.
On both occasions the notorious Phoenix birther in residence, Sheriff Joe Arpaio introduced the speaker. It is unclear whether he and the candidate, a fellow traveler in that cracked realm, shared notes on Barack Obama's birth certificate yesterday, or discussed the eligibility of Ted Cruz to become president.
Probably not. Sometimes, in the face of overwhelming reality, it is best to leave dead horses unbeaten.
So there we have it on a Sunday afternoon here on the southern plains. It is increasingly obvious you cannot become the most powerful person in the world unless you're able sell yourself like a high end Las Vegas hooker. And--for the moment anyway--Donald Trump has stolen the virulent mob the perpetually smirking little Canadian is so desperately counting on.
Hey, these things happen.
7-12-14
No comments:
Post a Comment