Here’s the latest on campaign spending:
The $80 million spent so far by groups outside the Democratic and Republican parties dwarfs the $16 million spent at this point for the 2006 midterms….The bulk of the money is being spent by conservatives, who have swamped their Democratic-aligned competition by 7 to 1 in recent weeks. The wave of spending is made possible in part by a series of Supreme Court rulings unleashing the ability of corporations and interest groups to spend money on politics. Conservative operatives also say they are riding the support of donors upset with Democratic policies they perceive as anti-business.
The last time I wrote about this I was reminded that the action isn’t all on the conservative side: ActBlue is on track to distribute $80 million to Democratic candidates this cycle. That’s a pretty impressive number. When it comes to outside interest groups, however, the GOP pretty much owns the airwaves.
For more on the tidal wave of money in politics, check out “Who Owns Congress,” a special report in the current issue of the magazine.
