Super PACs in 2012...
G.O.P. Campaigns Grow More Dependent
on ‘Super PAC’Aid
NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, The New York Times, February 21, 2012, p. 1.
Weeks of intense campaigning in the early nominating states have left the leading Republican
presidential candidates increasingly dependent on millions of dollars spent on their behalf by
outside “super PACs,” reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday showed.
Mitt Romney’s campaign spent close to $19 million during January, almost three times as much
as the $6.5 million he raised. He ultimately won two states, New Hampshire and Florida, and
ended the month with less than $8 million in cash on hand. Newt Gingrich raised nearly as much,
$5.6 million, and spent close to $6 million.
Rick Santorum, who enjoyed a surge of grass-roots donations after being declared the victor in
Iowa, raised $4.5 million, as did Representative Ron Paul of Texas. The amounts still leave Mr.
Romney in the lead, but no longer in a class by himself.
The super PAC backing Mr. Romney, Restore Our Future, raised $6.6 million in January and
spent close to $14 million, much of it on advertisements battering Mr. Gingrich in Iowa and
Florida. A super PAC backing Mr. Gingrich raised much more that month — almost $11 million
— and spent most of it on attack advertisements against Mr. Romney in South Carolina, where
Mr. Gingrich won, and in Florida, where Mr. Romney prevailed.
The spending reports revealed the breadth and power of super PACs as the campaign hits a
critical and perhaps decisive period, with outside groups poised to pick up a growing share of
political spending during the costly primary battle that lies ahead.
Bolstered by Mr. Romney’s extraordinarily high burn rate, the campaigns spent about $5 million
more during January than the super PACs supporting them. But over all, super PACs backing the
four leading Republican contenders raised $22.1 million in January, slightly more than the
candidates themselves, and ended the month with $19.4 million in cash on hand, about $5
million more than the candidates had.
Most of that money came in six- and seven-figure checks from just a few dozen individuals or
corporations — the billionaire casino executive Sheldon Adelson, the mutual fund investor
Foster S. Friess and the PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, among others — who have exploited
recent court rulings and changes in campaign finance rules to exert unprecedented influence over
their party’s choice of presidential nominee.
Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing Mr. Romney, entered February with $16.3 million in
cash on hand, money that has already underwritten an early run of attack advertisements against
Mr. Santorum, whose victories in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri this month have made him
the chief target for Mr. Romney’s attacks.
Mr. Romney could be even more dependent on Restore Our Future money than he was last
month. While he has raised far more than other Republican candidates, he has spent heavily
without taking a clear lead in the race. Moreover, Mr. Romney is “maxing out” the donors to his
campaign — taking the maximum $2,500 contribution allowed by federal law for the primary —
faster than any of the leading candidates of either party during the last two races.
Through the end of December, Mr. Romney had raised $2,500 from more than 14,000 donors,
representing about 44 percent of all of his contributors. About 5 percent of Mr. Paul’s donors, 14
percent of Mr. Gingrich’s donors and 30 percent of Mr. Santorum’s donors had maxed out,
meaning that a vast majority of their contributors can continue to give more money this year.
As Mr. Romney’s campaign prepares for a potentially long fight for the nomination, he has
increased his fund-raising events in strongholds like Washington and New York and has begun
prospecting elsewhere. During a campaign visit to Cincinnati on Monday, Mr. Romney made
time for an evening stop at the Great American Tower, where local donors said they would raise
more than $600,000 for him.
“We have exceeded our fund-raising goals and are on track with spending plans,” Spencer
Zwick, Mr. Romney’s national finance chairman, said in a statement. “We are the only campaign
who has the organization and resources to go the distance of a long primary process.”
Though other candidates appear to be capturing more grass-roots enthusiasm than Mr. Romney,
they also ended January with far less money in the bank. Mr. Gingrich had about $1.8 million,
and nearly as much debt. Mr. Santorum ended January with less than $1.5 million on hand,
though his campaign said he raised at least $3 million in grass-roots contributions after his triple
victories this month. Mr. Paul had about $1.6 million.
A super PAC founded by two former aides to President Obama, Priorities USA Action, raised
just $58,816 during January, helping to prompt a drastic shift from Mr. Obama, who has long
inveighed against the influence of outside groups. On Feb. 6, just days after the end of the
January filing period, aides to Mr. Obama told his top donors that White House and campaign
officials would appear at events for Priorities USA Action in a bid to increase its fund-raising.
While the pro-Romney Restore Our Future took in some donations as small as $5, close to $5
million came from just 25 individuals and corporations, each giving $100,000 to $500,000.
Three individuals gave half a million dollars apiece: Joseph W. Craft, an Oklahoma mining
executive; Bruce Kovner, a billionaire hedge fund founder from New York; and David Lisonbee,
the founder of a Utah vitamin supplements company.
The group also received donations from some past donors: the Texas industrialist Harold C.
Simmons; members of the Marriott and Walton families, founders of the Marriott and Walmart
chains; and Julian H. Robertson Jr., a retired hedge fund manager. Mr. Simmons also gave $5
million in January to American Crossroads, a Republican super PAC co-founded by Karl Rove,
in a donation that constituted virtually all of the group’s fund-raising for the month.
Winning Our Future, the super PAC backing Mr. Gingrich, raised nearly all of its cash from just
three people: Mr. Adelson; his wife, Miriam Adelson; and Mr. Simmons. (Because he gave to
both groups, Mr. Simmons’s money was in some sense working against itself during the January
run of Republican nominating contests.) Mr. Adelson is reportedly weighing putting yet more
money into the pro-Gingrich group.
Restore Our Future also received money from several corporations, some not easily connected to
a specific executive or even business. Select Management Resources, a limited liability
corporation based in Georgia, gave $100,000; the company appears to have registered to lobby
on banking and credit card issues in Nebraska.
The super PAC backing Mr. Santorum, the Red White and Blue Fund, raised about $2 million in
January, much of it from Foster S. Friess, a wealthy investor who is a top Santorum backer, and
William J. Doré, a retired Texas businessman who gave $1 million to the group. While the Red
White and Blue Fund ended January with only about $600,000 on hand, Mr. Friess has indicated
that he is likely to contribute more money to the group should Mr. Santorum require the help.
Griff Palmer and Jeff Zeleny contributed reporting.
In Republican Race, a New Breed of
Superdonor
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE, MICHAEL LUO and MIKE McINTIRE
Published: The New York Times, February 21, 2012, p. 1.
Last June, Harold C. Simmons, a wealthy Texas businessman, sent a $100,000 check to
Americans for Rick Perry, a “super PAC” preparing for Mr. Perry’s entry into the presidential
race. A few months later, he donated $1 million to a different pro-Perry group through his
company. In December, as Mr. Perry’s fortunes waned, Mr. Simmons wrote another check, this
one for $500,000, to Winning Our Future, a super PAC supporting Newt Gingrich.
But Mr. Simmons was not done. In mid-January, as Mr. Gingrich was headed toward a victory in
the South Carolina primary, Mr. Simmons wrote a $100,000 check to Restore Our Future, the
super PAC supporting Mitt Romney. And toward the end of the month, as Restore Our Future
used his money to help bludgeon Mr. Gingrich with attack ads in Florida, Mr. Simmons sent yet
another $500,000 check to Mr. Gingrich’s super PAC.
“He generally supports conservative Republican candidates,” said Chuck McDonald, a
spokesman for Mr. Simmons. “I assume he was just trying to be helpful.”
Mr. Simmons’s contributions — all told, he has given more than $14 million to Republican super
PACs so far this cycle — make him the exemplar of a new breed of superdonor in presidential
politics. About two dozen individuals, couples or corporations have given $1 million or more to
Republican super PACs this year, an exclusive club empowered by the Supreme Court’s Citizens
United decision and other rulings to pool their money into federal political committees and pour
it directly into this year’s presidential campaign.
Collectively, their contributions have totaled more than $50 million this cycle, making them
easily the most influential and powerful political donors in politics today. They have relatively
few Democratic counterparts so far, with most of the leading liberal donors from past years
giving relatively small amounts — or not at all — to the Democratic super PACs.
And unlike in past years, when wealthy donors of both parties donated chiefly to groups that
were active in the general election campaign, the top Republican donors are contributing money
far earlier, in contests that will determine the party’s presidential nominee.
“What unites them? They’re economic conservatives,” said Christopher J. LaCivita, a
Republican strategist who helped advise Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a forerunner of this
cycle’s super PACs, and who in 2008 co-founded another Republican advocacy group, the
American Issues Project, that ran advertisements against President Obama.
“Most of these guys are serious business tycoons,” Mr. LaCivita added. “They’ve built
something big — usually something bigger than themselves.”
Some of the superdonors, like Mr. Simmons and Robert J. Perry, a Texas homebuilder, are
longtime backers of independent groups that were active in past campaigns, like the Swift Boat
group, which in 2004 challenged the Vietnam War record of Senator John Kerry, the Democratic
presidential nominee.
Several attend the exclusive, secretive gatherings of wealthy conservative donors hosted twice a
year by the billionaire Koch brothers. Many move in the same social or political circles: Sheldon
Adelson, a billionaire casino executive who is close to Mr. Gingrich, serves on the board of the
Republican Jewish Coalition with Paul Singer, a hedge fund executive and a top contributor to
Restore Our Future.
Some of the million-dollar-plus donors, however, are relatively new to the world of big-league
political giving and appear to be motivated by personal connections to particular candidates. Paul
B. Edgerley and his wife, Sandra, for example, together gave $1 million to the pro-Romney
super PAC. Mr. Edgerley is an executive at Bain Capital, Mr. Romney’s former firm.
A few of the megadonors gave through limited liability companies, shielding their identity. One
$1 million donation to Restore Our Future came from F8 LLC, a company whose listed address
in Utah leads to an accounting firm. A charitable foundation linked to Sandra N. Tillotson, cofounder
of the skin care company Nu Skin, uses the same address. Ms. Tillotson was reimbursed
by Restore Our Future in July for what appeared to be costs associated with a fund-raiser at her
New York apartment. But Ms. Tillotson said in an e-mail Wednesday that she did not know who
the owner of F8 LLC was and had not made a donation backing Mr. Romney's campaign.
But the superdonors all have one thing in common: they are by definition deep-pocketed, willing
and ready to give far more than the $2,500 checks that donors to candidates are limited to
writing. Some of them have almost singlehandedly financed super PACs that support favored
candidates.
Multimedia
Graphic
Who’s Financing the ‘Super PACs’
Interactive Feature
Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal, has given Endorse Liberty, a super PAC supporting
Representative Ron Paul of Texas, at least $2.6 million, the bulk of the group’s donations so far.
Mr. Adelson and his family have contributed over $10 million to Winning Our Future, the group
supporting Mr. Gingrich.
“I might give $10 million or $100 million to Gingrich,” Mr. Adelson said in a coming profile in
Forbes magazine.
The motivation and logistics behind these large contributions remain something of a mystery.
Most megadonors and the campaigns they support are reluctant to talk about the hidden
scaffolding of high-level political giving. But glimpses of it emerge in public records.
Mr. Perry, who has donated $3.5 million to Republican causes in the current cycle, rarely speaks
publicly about his contributions. However, he testified in a 2007 lawsuit that he occasionally got
calls directly from candidates asking for money, and that he sometimes decided to write a check
after reading or hearing about a promising politician.
Saying that his “habits are to give more aggressively as we go into the election,” Mr. Perry said
that in addition to supporting candidates on the national level and in Texas, he liked to give to
governor’s races in “other states that are not so big, so that my contributions can make a
difference.”
The lawsuit was brought against the Republican Governors Association by a Democratic
candidate for governor in Texas, who said the group did not comply with state campaign
disclosure rules in 2006. A judge ruled against the association, which has appealed; Mr. Perry
was not a defendant.
Several of the biggest donors to Restore Our Future, the super PAC backing Mr. Romney, share
the candidate’s Mormon faith. A quartet of companies connected to Melaleuca, a company based
in Idaho that makes nutritional supplements and home care products, donated a combined $1
million to Restore Our Future.
The company is headed by Frank VanderSloot, a national finance co-chairman of the Romney
campaign and a graduate of Brigham Young University, Mr. Romney’s alma mater. “I am very
concerned about the direction of the country and especially the administration’s constant attacks
on free enterprise,” Mr. VanderSloot said in an e-mail.
Many of the biggest givers to the pro-Romney super PAC hail from the world of finance,
particularly private equity and hedge funds. Julian H. Robertson Jr., who has given at least $1.25
million to Restore Our Future, is considered one of the godfathers of the hedge fund industry.
A few of the superdonors are friends: Foster S. Friess, the chief donor to the Red White and Blue
Fund, a super PAC backing Rick Santorum, occasionally spars with Mr. Adelson over his
support for Mr. Gingrich’s super PAC. “Sheldon’s prime motivation is his love for Israel, which
I share,” Mr. Friess said, adding that he had spoken to Mr. Adelson recently. “But my motivation
is, I owe this country so much.”
Jim Rutenberg contributed reporting.
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Who’s Financing the ‘Super PACs’
A look at the major donors to “super PACs” duringthe 2012 campaigncycle. Unlike candidates, who canraise amaximumof $2,500 per personfor each
election, super PACs are independent fromcandidates andcanraise unlimitedamounts fromindividuals, corporations andlabor unions, andspend
unlimitedamounts to support or oppose acandidate. The Times is updating this list as groups file their January fund-raising reports with
the Federal Election Commission on Feb. 20.
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Mitt Romney
Noknown
candidate
Restore Our Future
Asuper PACcreated
by former aides toMitt
Romney. It has spent
muchof its money
runningads attacking
Newt Gingrich.
View Latest Filingat
FEC.gov »
Julian Robertson
Founder of Tiger Management, a hedge fund.
$1.3 mil.
Edward Conard
Investor and former top executive at Bain Capital, the private
equityfirm Mr. Romneyhelped start.
$1.0 mil.
Eli Publishing Inc.
Shares a Provo, Utah, address with F8 LLC.
$1.0 mil.
F8 LLC
Shares a Provo, Utah, address with Eli Publishing Inc.
$1.0 mil.
Melaleuca
An Idaho-based health and wellness products company;
donations were made under the names of four associated
companies.
$1.0 mil.
Robert Mercer
Co-chief executive at Renaissance Technologies Corp., a
hedge fund company.
$1.0 mil.
John Paulson
Founder of the hedge fund Paulson &Company. Well known
for earning billions of dollars betting against the subprime
mortgage market.
$1.0 mil.
Bob Perry
Houston homebuilder who was a major financier of Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth in 2004.
$1.0 mil.
Rooney HoldingsInc.
Private investment firm based in Tulsa, Okla. Its chief
executive is Francis Rooney, a former U.S.Ambassador to the
Vatican.
$1.0 mil.
Paul Singer
Manager of ElliotAssociates hedge fund.
$1.0 mil.
Show 203 More
97% $36.8 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$6.6 mil.
American Crossroads
This super PACwas
activeinmany
Congressional races
Harold Simmons
Dallas billionaire who was among the top donors to Gov. Rick
Perryof Texas.
$10.0 mil. 99% $23.4 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$5.1 mil.
Super PAC
Photos indicategroups runor
advisedby candidate's
former staff or associates
Major donors
Individuals or corporations whogave$25,000or more.
Thosewhomadeall or part of their donations inJan. 2012areshownin yellow.
Share from
large donors
Donations of
$25,000or more
Raised
campaign
to date
Raised in
Jan. 2012
RECOMMEND LINKEDIN SIGNINTO E-MAIL SHARETWITTER
ties
Newt Gingrich
RickPerry
duringthe2010
midtermelections and
has Karl Roveas its
senior adviser. Crossroads GPS, a
501(c)(4) nonprofit groupthat is affiliated
withthesuper PACanddoes not haveto
discloseits donors, has spent at least
$20milliononads criticizingPresident
Obama.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Bob J. Perry
Houston homebuilder who was a major financier of Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth in 2004.
$2.5 mil.
Contran Corporation
Private holding companyowned byHarold Simmons, a Dallas
billionaire who has been among the top donors to Gov. Rick
Perryof Texas.
$2.0 mil.
Jerry Perenchio Living Trust
Affiliated with JerryPerenchio, the chief executive of Chartwell
Partners.
$2.0 mil.
Robert B. Rowling
Chief executive of TRTHoldings Inc.
$1.0 mil.
Whiteco Industries, Inc.
Outdoor advertising company.
$1.0 mil.
Crow Holdings, LLC
Areal estate investment firm headed bythe Trammell Crow
familyof Dallas.
$500,000
Philip H. Geier
Chairman emeritus of The Geier Group.
$500,000
Kenny A. Troutt
Founder of the telecom companyExcel Communications.
$500,000
Alliance Management Holdings
Coal producer run byJoseph W. Craft III, a Tulsa
businessman.
$425,000
Show 25 More
Winning Our Future
This super PACwas
createdby Becky
Burkett, theformer
chief development
officer forAmerican
Solutions, aPACthat
Newt Gingrich
founded.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Sheldon Adelson
Billionaire casino owner and Mr. Gingrich’s longtime friend
and patron.
$5.0 mil.
Miriam Adelson
Wife of SheldonAdelson.
$5.0 mil.
Harold Simmons
Dallas billionaire who has also been among Mr. Perry’s top
donors.
$1.0 mil.
Sivan Ochshorn
The youngest daughter of MiriamAdelson, who reportedly
contributed at least $10 million to the super PAC with her
husband SheldonAdelson in January, after the current
reporting period.
$500,000
W.S. Propst
AnAlabama real estate investor.
$500,000
Margaret C. Caveney
Homemaker in North Palm Beach, Fla.
$250,000
Oren Lukatz
Husband of Yasmin Lukatz.
$250,000
Yasmin Lukatz
Daughter of MiriamAdelson.
$250,000
Michael E. Martino
Portfolio manager at Mason Capital Management.
$100,000
Stephen Muss
Miami real estate developer.
$100,000
99% $13.1 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$11.0 mil.
Make Us Great Again
Asuper PACthat was
supportingGov. Rick
Perry of Texas before
heleft therace,
headedby Mike
Toomey, Mr. Perry's
former chief of staff.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Contran Corporation
Private holding companyowned byHarold Simmons, a Dallas
billionaire who has been among the top donors to Gov. Rick
Perryof Texas.
$1.0 mil.
S. Javaid Anwar
President of Midland Energy, a West Texas energycompany.
Filings with the Federal Election Commission from last
November show that the campaign of Gov. Rick Perryowed Mr.
Anwar $66,362.50 in travel debts, apparentlyfor use of a
$250,000
97% $5.5 mil.
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
BarackObama
Noknown
candidate
ties
private jet. The latest filings show the debt to be paid.
Tony Buzbee
Personal injurylawyer at Buzbee Law Firm.
$250,000
Darwin A. Deason
Billionaire entrepreneur who foundedAffiliated Computer
Services, an information technologyfirm.
$250,000
Brint Ryan
Founder and chief executive of the Ryan LLC accounting firm.
$250,000
Kelcy L. Warren
Chief executive and chairman of the board of EnergyTransfer
Partners, a Texas-based energycompany.
$250,000
Mike Toomey
Founder of the super PAC; lobbyist, former legislator and onetime
chief of staff to Mr. Perryof Texas.
$102,174
Stephen I. Chazen
President and chief operating officer of Occidental Petroleum
Corp.
$100,000
Paul L. Foster
Chairman of Western Refining Company, a Texas oil refiner
and marketer. Mr. Foster spent almost $20,000 flying Gov.
Perryto a trade meeting in Mexico, where the governor asked
Mexican energyofficials to consider more joint ventures with
Texas oil companies.
$100,000
David L. Haug
Co-owner ofArctas Capital Group, an energy-sector
investment firm.
$100,000
Show 24 More
Priorities USA Action
Bill Burton, aformer
ObamaWhiteHouse
aide, heads this
Democratic super
PAC, whichhas not
beenas activeas its
Republican
counterparts.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Jeffrey Katzenberg
Chief executive of Dreamworks Animation.
$2.0 mil.
Service EmployeesInternational Union
Labor union with 2.1 million members.
$1.0 mil.
Fred Eychaner
An Obama bundler and Chicago media mogul.
$500,000
PrioritiesUSA
A501(c)4 group connected with the super PAC that does not
have to disclose its donors.
$215,234
William E. Little
Chairman of George Little Management, an organizer of trade
shows.
$150,000
John C. Law
Managing director of Warland Investments Company.
$100,000
Steven Spielberg
Film director and co-principal of Dreamworks Animation.
$100,000
J. J. Abrams
Film director and producer; directed 'Star Trek' and 'Mission
Impossible III.'
$50,000
American Association for Justice PAC
Atrial lawyers' association.
$50,000
Kathleen McGrath
Producer; married to J.J.Abrams.
$50,000
Show 3 More
97% $4.5 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$58,816
American Bridge 21st
Century
ADemocratic-leaning
super PACfoundedby
DavidBrock, the
Democratic operative
andactivist. Thegroup
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
Public services employees union.
$375,000
American Bridge 21st Century Foundation
A501(c)4 group connected with the super PAC that does not
have to disclose its donors.
$222,926
96% $3.7 mil.
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Noknown
candidate
ties
JonM.
HuntsmanJr.
has anon-profit arm,
AmericanBridge21st Century
Foundation.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Anne G. Earhart
Investor, Corona del Mar, Calif.
$200,000
Paul Egerman
Co-founder of eScription Inc. and member of a committee that
advises the Department of Health and Human Services.
$200,000
Peter B. Lewis
Chairman of Progressive Insurance Company.
$200,000
Stephen Bing
Movie producer.
$150,000
Lee Fikes
President, Bonanza Oil Company.
$150,000
AFL-CIO Worker'sVoicesPAC
PAC of the labor union federation.
$100,000
American Federation of State County and Municipal
Employees
Public services employees union.
$100,000
Nancy Beeuwkes
Retired, Concord, Mass.
$100,000
Show 31 More
Endorse Liberty
EndorseLiberty
supports RonPaul's
campaignandhas
spent money ononline
advertisements.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Peter Thiel
Technologyentrepreneur, venture capitalist, a founder of
PayPal and Clarium Capital Management.
$2.6 mil.
Stephen Oskoui
Founder and chief executive of SmileyMedia, an Internet
advertising company.
$471,230
Gunter Marksteiner
Florida television station owner.
$163,252
Scott Banister
Technologyentrepreneur and investor; a founder of IronPort, a
Web securityappliance provider.
$50,000
97% $3.4 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$2.4 mil.
Our Destiny
This super PAC
supportedJonM.
HuntsmanJr. before
heleft therace.A
former Huntsman
campaignaide, Fred
Davis, helps runthe
committee.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Jon M. Huntsman Sr.
Father of Jon M. Huntsman Jr. and executive chairman of the
Huntsman Corporation.
$2.2 mil.
Robert D. Arnott
Chairman of ResearchAffiliates, an investment management
firm in Newport Beach, Calif.
$250,000
A. Jerrold Perenchio
Billionaire and former chairman of Univision
$100,000
JamesR. Swartz
Founding partner ofAccel Partners, a venture capital firm.
$100,000
Jim Walton
Chairman and chief executive ofArvest Bank Group and son of
Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
$100,000
C. Boyden Gray
Washington lawyer, former diplomat and White House
counsel in the first Bush administration.
$50,000
William E. Oberndorf
Founding partner of SPOPartners, an investment firm.
$50,000
NicholasF. Taubman
President of Mozart Investments and former ambassador to
Romania.
$50,000
Christy R. Walton
Philanthropist and widow of John Walton, Walmart founder's
son.
$50,000
Craig McCaw
Cellphone pioneer and founder of McCaw Cellular and
Clearwire.
$37,500
96% $3.2 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$485,685
Noknown
candidate
ties
Noknown
candidate
ties
Show 2 More
FreedomWorks for
America
This committeeis a
wingof
FreedomWorks, a
nonprofit organization
ledby DickArmey, the
former Housemajority
leader.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Freedomworks
A501(c)4 group connected with the super PAC that does not
have to disclose its donors.
$1.4 mil.
Crow Holdings, LLC
Areal estate investment firm headed bythe Trammell Crow
familyof Dallas.
$250,000
Richard Uihlein
Chief executive of U-Line, a Wisconsin freezer company.
$250,000
Donald Oeters
Owner of EnterTRAINment Junction in Cincinnati, Ohio.
$150,000
Foster Friess
Wealthymutual fund manager who supports Christian and
conservative causes. Major investor in the DailyCaller news
website led byTucker Carlson.
$100,000
Myrna Darland
Wife of Michae Darland of Bellevue, co-founder of Digital
Systems Inc., a telecommunications company.
$50,000
Conway Ivy
Retired, Beaufort, S.C.
$50,000
Ann Kerchville
Chairman and chief executive of Kercheville &Company
$50,000
Herbert Siegel
Retired media investor, New York.
$25,000
William Siegel
Private investor, son of Herbert Siegel.
$25,000
68% $3.0 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$347,112
House Majority PAC
Asuper PAC
establishedtosupport
Democratic House
members and
candidates.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Laborers' Political League Education Fund
Labor group.
$350,000
International Association of Fire FightersFIREPAC
PAC of a labor union representing firefighters.
$250,000
American Federation of TeachersAFL-CIO Committee
on Political Education
PAC of theAmerican Federation of Teachers.
$200,000
DRIVE - Democrat Republican Independent Voter
Education
PAC of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor
union.
$200,000
United Food & Commercial WorkersInternational
Union Active Ballot Club
PAC of the food industryunion.
$200,000
Service EmployeesInternational Union COPE
PAC of the labor union.
$185,000
Fred Eychaner
Chief executive of Newsweb Corporation
$150,000
Working for Working Americans- Federal Account
Super PAC of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners.
$125,000
American Association for Justice PAC
PAC of the trial lawyer association.
$100,000
International Brotherhood of Electrical WorkersPAC
PAC of the trade union.
$100,000
Show 5 More
97% $3.0 mil.
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Red White and Blue
Fund
This committee,
William J. Dore
President of Dore Energy.
$1.0 mil. 96% $2.8 mil.
ThroughJan. 31
$2.1 mil.
RickSantorum
Noknown
candidate
ties
Noknown
This committee,
foundedby aformer
Iowaadviser toformer
Senator RickSantorum
of Pennsylvania, is
oneof twosuper
PACs supportinghis
candidacy.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Foster S. Friess
Wealthymutual fund manager who supports Christian and
conservative causes. Major investor in the DailyCaller news
website led byTucker Carlson.
$1.0 mil.
Dr. John M. Templeton Jr.
President and chairman of the John Templeton Foundation;
former chairman of Let Freedom Ring, an independent
conservative group that supported President Bush in 2004.
$265,000
Kimber Manufacturing Inc.
AYonkers, N.Y., manufacturer of classic firearms.
$100,000
Steven G. Mihaylo
Chairman and chief executive of iMergent, Inc., a provider of ecommerce
software.
$55,000
Richard F. Barry
Attorneyin San Rafael, Calif.
$50,000
Timothy Busch
Chief executive of Pacific HospitalityGroup, a hotel developer.
$50,000
Terrence R. Caster
Retired real estate developer.
$50,000
Frank Hanna
Executive at FSH Capital.
$50,000
CharlesParlato
President of C&C Shorelands, a real estate development
company.
$25,000
Show 1 More
Majority PAC
Asuper PAC
establishedtosupport
Democratic senators
andcandidates.
View Latest Filingat
FEC.gov »
JamesH. Simons
President of Euclidean Capital and Board Chair of
Renaissance Technologies Corp., a hedge fund company.
$500,000
Stephen L. Bing
Movie producer, Encino, Calif.
$250,000
Service EmployeesInternational Union COPE
PAC of the labor union.
$250,000
DRIVE - Democrat Republican Independent Voter
Education
PAC of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters labor
union.
$200,000
Guy D. Gundlach
Retired, Las Vegas.
$150,000
William E. Little
Chairman of George Little Management, an organizer of trade
shows.
$150,000
American Association For Justice PAC
PAC of the trial lawyer association.
$100,000
Stephen J. Cloobeck
Chairman and chief executive of Diamond Resorts
International.
$100,000
Elaine McKay Family Inv. LP
Laguna Beach, Calif.
$100,000
JHJM Nevada I, LLC
Linked to Stephen J. Cloobeck, chairman and chief executive
of Diamond Resorts International, who made another
$100,000 contribution on his own.
$100,000
Show 7 More
92% $2.5 mil.
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Americans for a Better
Tomorrow, Tomorrow
This super PACwas
createdby the
The comedian Stephen Colbert's super PAC raised nearlyall of its moneyin
donations of less than $200, with just one person,AlexRigopulos of Belmont,
Mass., the chief executive of HarmonixMusic Systems Inc., giving more than
$5,000 (he gave $9,600). The super PAC reported raising an additional
$197,646 since the beginning of the year, for a total of $1,023,121.
0% $825,475
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
candidate
ties
HermanCain
Noknown
candidate
ties
Noknown
candidate
ties
Noknown
candidate
ties
comedianStephen
Colbert, andit ran
advertisements inhis
homestate, South
Carolina, beforetheprimary therein
support of HermanCain, whosuspended
his campaigninDecember.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
$197,646 since the beginning of the year, for a total of $1,023,121.
9-9-9 Fund
This super PAC
supportedthe
candidacy of Herman
Cain, theformer chief
executiveof
Godfather's Pizza,
beforehesuspended
his campaignin
December.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Unlike manyof the other super PACs, the 9-9-9 Fund raised the bulk of its
moneyfrom donations of less than $200. Just one person gave $5,000.
0% $617,620
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Restoring Prosperity
Fund
This super PACbegan
as "Americans for
RickPerry," but
changedits nameand
spent money before
theIowaStraw Poll in
August 2011.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Harold Simmons
Dallas billionaire who was among the top donors to Gov. Rick
Perryof Texas.
$100,000
Dealer Computer ServicesInc.
Houston-based computer manufacturer and supplycompany
and part of Universal Computer Systems, headed byRobert T.
Brockman.
$50,000
JamesPitcock Jr.
Chairman and chief executive of Williams Brothers
Construction Company, the largest highwaycontractor in
Texas.
$50,000
Kenny A. Troutt
Founder of the telecom companyExcel Communications.
$50,000
WithersEnergy Group LP
Texas-based companythat develops energymanagement
systems and products.
$35,000
Anderson Columbia Company
Construction companyheaded byT. H. McRae.
$25,000
Nathan Crain
President of Crain Information Systems.
$25,000
George Mihlsten
Partner in the Los Angeles law office of Latham &Watkins LLP.
$25,000
84% $433,256
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Santa Rita SuperPAC
ATexas committee
that supports Ron
Paul's candidacy, this
super PACaims tobuy
televisionadvertising
timeincrucial primary
states likeSouthCarolina.
View Latest Filingat FEC.gov »
Mark Hart
Founder of CorrienteAdvisors, a private investment firm;
predicted theAmerican subprime market and the European
debt crises.
$50,000
Shannon Hart
Wife of Mark Hart, a hedge fund manager.
$50,000
Donald B. Huffines
Dallas-based real estate developer.
$50,000
Patrick Walker
Pathologist; Director of Nephropath laboratoryin Little Rock,
Ark.
$50,000
David W. Tice
Investment fund manager and founder of the Prudent Bear
Fund.
$25,000
96% $234,096
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
Leaders for Families
Super PAC
Thesecondof two
super PACs formedto
support Rick
Santorum. Its founders
haveties toan
organizationopposed
tosame-sex marriage.
Red White and Blue Fund
Another super PAC supporting Rick Santorum for president.
$75,000
Foster S. Friess
Wealthymutual fund manager who supports Christian and
conservative causes. Major investor in the DailyCaller news
website led byTucker Carlson.
$50,000
CharlesParlato $25,000
100% $150,050
ThroughDec. 31
Jan. 2012report
not yet available
By MATTHEWERICSON, HAEYOUNPARK,ALICIAPARLAPIANOandDEREKWILLIS | Send Feedback
Source: Federal ElectionCommission
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View Latest Filingat FEC.gov » President of C&C Shorelands, a real estate development
company.
Loose Border of ‘Super PAC’ and Campaign
By MIKE McINTIRE and MICHAEL LUO
Published: The New York Times, February 26, 2012, p. 1.
When Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign needs advice on direct mail strategies for reaching
voters, it looks to TargetPoint Consulting. And when the independent “super PAC” supporting
him needs voter research, it, too, goes to TargetPoint.
Sharing a consultant would seem to be an embodiment of coordination between a candidate and
an independent group, something prohibited under federal law. But TargetPoint is just one of a
handful of interconnected firms in the same office suite in Alexandria, Va., working for either
the Romney campaign or the super PAC Restore Our Future.
Elsewhere in the same suite is WWP Strategies, whose co-founder is married to TargetPoint’s
chief executive and works for the Romney campaign. Across the conference room is the Black
Rock Group, whose co-founder — a top Romney campaign official in 2008 — now helps run
both Restore Our Future and American Crossroads, another independent group that spoke up in
defense of Mr. Romney’s candidacy in January. Finally, there is Crossroads Media, a media
placement firm that works for American Crossroads and other Republican groups.
The overlapping roles and relationships of the consultants in Suite 555 at 66 Canal Center Plaza
offer a case study in the fluidity and ineffectual enforcement of rules intended to prevent
candidates from coordinating their activities with outside groups. And there has been a rising
debate over the ascendancy of super PACs, which operate free of the contribution limits imposed
on the candidates but are supposed to remain independent of them.
In practice, super PACs have become a way for candidates to bypass the limits by steering rich
donors to these ostensibly independent groups, which function almost as adjuncts of the
campaigns.
While insisting that the tangle of connections does not violate any laws, Alexander Gage,
TargetPoint’s founder, said he understood how it could look “ridiculous.” His own firm had
taken steps, he said, to prevent improprieties, including erecting “a fire wall” separating
employees who work for the Romney campaign and the super PAC.
“We go to great lengths to make sure that we meet all legal requirements,” he said. “I have
removed myself personally from working on either Restore Our Future or Romney stuff because
of this sort of potential conflict of interest.”
The prohibition against candidates working in concert with independent political committees has
its roots in Watergate-era reforms intended to prevent large donors from gaining improper
influence over elected officials. But it has taken on added significance in the wake of recent
court decisions that opened the spigot for unlimited contributions to the independent groups.
Super PACs have collected more than $100 million so far, much of it from a relatively small
collection of well-heeled individuals or companies who are free to give millions to these outside
groups but no more than a few thousand dollars to a candidate’s own committees. Those
unlimited contributions are fueling a barrage of negative advertising in the Republican primaries.
But while the Federal Election Commission has established elaborate, though narrow, guidelines
for determining whether the creation of a specific campaign advertisement violates the
coordination ban, it has not focused on other kinds of activities between all PACs and
candidates. Rules the commission adopted in 2003, still on the books, allow for regulation of this
gray area, but they have been largely ignored.
“Most of the focus so far has been on the ads, but there may be a lot of other activity that is being
coordinated between the campaigns and the super PACs that could be seen as resulting in a
benefit to the campaign,” said Lawrence M. Noble, a campaign-finance lawyer at Skadden, Arps
and a former general counsel for the election commission.
The regulations on coordination include a general prohibition on expenditures “made in
cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the request or suggestion” of candidates and their
representatives. The commission’s records show that when devising this rule, it turned aside
pleas from political groups to limit enforcement only to ads, saying such a narrow focus was not
what Congress intended.
Nine years later, however, there is little evidence that the commission has followed through on
this intent.
The commission, made up of three Republicans and three Democrats, has long been divided
along partisan lines on how far to go in enforcing rules on coordinated expenditures, often
resulting in paralysis.
Last fall, the commission was asked by American Crossroads if it could broadcast certain ads,
“fully coordinated” with a candidate, who would be consulted about the script and appear in the
advertisement. The group argued that it would not be improper as long as the ad ran outside of a
time window established by the commission for “electioneering communications.”
The commission deadlocked and could reach no conclusion.
“The campaigns know the F.E.C. isn’t going to enforce the law, and so they’ve decided to do
whatever they want,” said Fred Wertheimer, whose watchdog group, Democracy 21, has
complained to the Justice Department about the lack of enforcement. “What is going on is just
absurd.”
The commission declined to comment for this article.
From the start, there has been no doubt that the super PACs are closely entwined with the
candidates they support.
Priorities USA Action, which supports President Obama, was formed by two former White
House aides, and Obama administration officials are helping it raise money. A former top aide to
Newt Gingrich helps run a pro-Gingrich super PAC, Winning Our Future. And Foster S. Friess, a
major donor to Rick Santorum’s super PAC, often travels with the candidate.
Mr. Romney has often blurred the distinction between his campaign and Restore Our Future.
Last summer, discussing a large donation to the super PAC by one of his former business
partners, Mr. Romney characterized it as a donation to himself. He appeared at a fund-raiser for
Restore Our Future and has publicly encouraged people to donate to it.
Campaign spending reports filed by both the super PAC and the Romney campaign shed
additional light on just how closely interconnected the two entities are.
Restore Our Future, for example, has paid TargetPoint Consulting nearly $350,000 for survey
research. Meanwhile, the Romney campaign has paid TargetPoint nearly $200,000 for direct
mail consulting. In one instance, the campaign and the super PAC paid TargetPoint on the same
day.
Mr. Gage, a senior strategist in Mr. Romney’s 2008 campaign, is married to Katie Packer Gage,
a deputy campaign manager of the current Romney campaign. The campaign has paid her firm,
WWP Strategies, nearly $250,000 for strategy consulting.
Both of their companies share an office suite with the Black Rock Group, a political consulting
firm co-founded by Carl Forti, who worked as political director for Mr. Romney’s 2008
campaign and helps direct Restore Our Future. The super PAC has paid Black Rock about
$21,000 for communications consulting.
Mr. Forti declined to comment. Mr. Gage said that his firm had a separate work space from
Black Rock, divided by a conference room. “It’s not like we’re a commingled office,” he said.
His wife’s office for WWP Strategies is in the same area as TargetPoint’s, he said, but she has
been working out of the Romney headquarters in Boston for the most part. Mr. Gage said they do
not discuss the campaign.
Gail Gitcho, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, said the campaign followed both the
letter and the spirit of the law on coordination.
“We know the law,” she said, “and we abide by it scrupulously.”
The spending reports suggest that the Romney campaign and the super PAC, if not coordinating,
have been closely following each other’s fund-raising events, though Ms. Gitcho emphasized
that no joint fund-raisers had been held.
Last summer, the super PAC and the Romney campaign employed Creative Edge Parties, a New
York catering company, and each sent it a payment on the same day: the super PAC gave a
check for $1,676 for a “fund-raising event,” while the Romney campaign sent $1,584 for
“facility rental/catering services.”
On another occasion, Restore Our Future paid $1,500 as a fund-raising expense to the Waldorf
Astoria in New York, where the Romney campaign held a fund-raiser in December. Around the
same time, the Romney campaign paid the Waldorf $19,000 for “facility rental/catering services”
and lodging.
And in mid-July, Restore Our Future wrote two checks to Sandie Tillotson, a cosmetics
executive and a friend of Mr. Romney, reimbursing her for “event costs,” which appear to be
associated with a fund-raiser held in her apartment on the top floor of the north tower of the
Time Warner Center in Manhattan. Several weeks later, the Romney campaign also sent a check
to the residential board of Ms. Tillotson’s building, which is home as well to the Mandarin
Oriental hotel, for “facility rental/catering services.” (The campaign had a fund-raiser at the hotel
on July 19.)
The overlapping connections of American Crossroads, the independent group tied to Karl Rove,
with the Alexandria office suite are likely to draw more scrutiny in the general election, should
Mr. Romney win the nomination. Mr. Forti is the group’s political director, and Crossroads is
expected to be a big player in November.
While American Crossroads has not officially endorsed a candidate, it has been seen by some as
tacitly supporting Mr. Romney. It issued a memorandum last month defending his electability in
the face of attacks by the Obama campaign. That was soon followed by another, saying its earlier
note “probably should have been clearer” that the group remained neutral in the Republican
primaries.
A version of this article appeared in print on February 26, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fine Line Between ‘Super
PACs’ and Campaigns.
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Published: February 25, 2012
66Canal Center Plaza, Suite 555
Inasingle office suite inAlexandria, Va., firms hiredby “super PACs” share the same space as consultants hiredby the Romney campaign. Federal law
prohibits super PACs fromdirectly coordinatingwithcandidates, but the groups share many ties andhave paidfor many similar services. RelatedArticle»
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$244,814
Restore Our Future
American Crossroads
$35,857
$295,716
according to campaign
finance reports
$192,900
$346,500
$20,824
Deputy campaign manager
Numbersindicate
total amount paid
during this election cycle
Political
director
Partner
Partner
Partner
C.E.O. and
founder
Former political director
(2008 campaign)
Former senior strategist
(2008 campaign)
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KATIEPACKERGAGE
ALEXANDERGAGE
CARL FORTI
SUITE555
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Campaign
Super PAC supporting
Mitt Romney’s candidacy
for president
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research
for media placement
for consulting,
advocacy and
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“microtargeting” voters
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focuses on advertising
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Republican candidates
and causes
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consulting
Black Rock Group
CrossroadsMedia
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TargetPoint Consulting
RECOMMEND LINKEDIN SIGNINTO E-MAIL SHARETWITTER
Subtler Entry From Masters of Attack Ads
Luke Sharrett for The New York Times
Steven J. Law of Crossroads GPS said a new ad was aimed at voters who may like President
Obama but are disillusioned.
By JEREMY W. PETERS
Published: May 22, 2012, The New York Times National Edition, A1.
WASHINGTON — The ad is the work of two of the most fearsome players in Republican
politics: Larry McCarthy, the producer behind the infamous Willie Horton commercial in 1988,
and Crossroads GPS, the political battle squad founded by Karl Rove.
The commercial features a woman ruing that the poor economy has forced her adult children to
move back in.
When it makes its debut Wednesday in 10 swing states as the centerpiece of a $25 million
campaign, it is expected to become one of the most heavily broadcast political commercials of
this phase of the general election.
Yet what Mr. McCarthy and Crossroads have produced is not the kind of searing denunciation of
President Obama that their track records would suggest. More soft-pedal than Swift Boat, the 60second
advertisement, complete with special effects, is a deeply researched, delicately worded
story of a struggling family; its relatively low-key tone is all the more striking, coming at a point
in the campaign when each side is accusing the other of excessive negativity.
Behind the story of the ad’s creation rests one of the greatest challenges for Republicans in this
election: how to develop a powerful line of attack against a president who remains well liked
even by people who are considering voting against him.
The concept for the newest advertisement and even some of the lines in the script were culled
directly from focus groups of undecided and sometimes torn voters that were held over nearly a
year. As Crossroads strategists would learn after 18 different focus groups and field tests, from
Missouri to Colorado to Ohio to Florida, the harshest anti-Obama jabs backfire with many
Americans.
Middle-of-the-road voters who said they thought the country was on the wrong track were
unmoved when they heard arguments that the president lacks integrity. And they did not buy
assertions that he is a rabid partisan with a radical liberal agenda that is wrecking America.
“They are not interested in being told they made a horrible mistake,” said Steven J. Law,
president of Crossroads GPS and the affiliated “super PAC,” American Crossroads. “The
disappointment they’re now experiencing has to be handled carefully.”
In interviews with voters, Crossroads strategists picked up on some common sentiments that they
concluded could provide a clear rationale for voters to deny Mr. Obama a second term.
Some said they felt that the president was an eloquent communicator, but that his actions had
failed to live up to his words. They said they thought the country’s budget problems had gotten
out of hand, yet the government kept spending recklessly — like someone with maxed-out credit
cards. And they reported being worried that their children would not have the same opportunities
to get ahead as they had.
All these thoughts made their way into Mr. McCarthy’s script. But one exchange in particular, at
a focus group in St. Louis in October, gave Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Law the idea for the ad,
which they named, innocuously enough, “Basketball.”
A woman described how her 32-year-old son, burdened by student loans and unable to make
ends meet, had moved back home. “That particular group had several women who basically told
the same story,” Mr. McCarthy said.
The script, which he started writing that day in October, features a composite character from the
focus groups. “Kind of like President Obama’s girlfriends,” he noted dryly, referring to Mr.
Obama’s acknowledgment that a girlfriend he referred to in his book “Dreams From My Father”
was a composite of several women he knew.
The ad opens with a woman talking about her family’s financial woes. “I always loved watching
the kids play basketball,” the actress says, her voice heavy with worry as she glances out at her
backyard. “I still do, even though things have changed.”
Her face quickly morphs into an old woman’s. Her skin is wrinkled, her hair gray. She explains
how her adult children have moved back into the house because they are unable to find jobs. And
she is not sure she can afford to retire now.
“I supported President Obama because he spoke so beautifully,” she says. “He promised change.
But things changed for the worse.”
Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, dismissed the commercial’s premise.
“However many millions Mitt Romney’s special interest allies spend won’t change the facts,” he
said, noting that the economy has strengthened considerably since 2008.
In previous presidential campaigns, Republicans have relished mocking their Democratic
opponents. They made commercials with video of Michael S. Dukakis riding in a tank wearing
an oversize helmet, leaving viewers with images that many thought made him look silly and
unpresidential.
They used pictures of Senator John Kerry windsurfing to create ads that ridiculed him as a flipflopper.
Bill Clinton, with his admission of drug use, accusations of draft dodging and
extramarital affairs, was easily lampooned.
But Republicans acknowledge that they have always faced a more complicated target in Mr.
Obama, whose candidacy four years ago struck a deep emotional chord with many Americans.
That is why the Crossroads ad features a heavy repetition of the word “change.” Many
participants in the focus groups cited the Obama mantra of hope and change as a reason they
supported him in 2008, but they said they now felt let down.
“Criticizing President Obama is a challenging proposition in terms of ads because a lot of your
swing voters this year voted for him in 2008,” Mr. McCarthy said. “They genuinely liked him,
they thought he had the right message, they thought he was different.”
“Basketball” is similar in its message and tone to a commercial Mr. McCarthy produced for
Crossroads last year called “Wake Up.” That ad opens with a shot of a clock showing the time as
3:01 a.m., a nod to the famous “3 a.m.” ad that Hillary Rodham Clinton used in 2008 to try to
portray Mr. Obama as unprepared for the presidency.
The actress in “Wake Up” says, “Sometimes it’s hard to sleep,” as she climbs out of bed to check
on her sleeping daughter. “Lately, I worry a lot about my kids. What’s their future going to be
like?” The ad tested higher with voters than any Crossroads had ever produced.
Using actors is not a common tactic for political attack ads, which often rely on stern-sounding
announcers to recite a series of damning facts or on testimonials from aggrieved citizens, like a
recent series from the Obama campaign that questions Mr. Romney’s history as a private equity
executive.
But in this case, Crossroads felt that a scripted story would soften a tough message about
complicated issues.
“The challenge is obviously that the issues we want to talk about — health care, the economy,
debt — it’s not like kittens and adoption. They’re tough issues to communicate in a warm way,”
Mr. Law said.
A fictional family also allowed for more creative flexibility in creating a rebuttal to the
president’s message that although things may not be great, the country is moving in the right
direction.
The alternative point of view the Republican strategists are trying to sell to voters is a hard truth
wrapped in soft packaging: even though the headlines might be looking good now, the American
dream is still in tatters.
“There are some who believe he’s made things worse; then there’s a larger group of people who
are upset at him because he hasn’t fixed these problems,” Mr. Law said. “And the larger point of
these ads is that the agenda he’s pursued has not made things better.”
A version of this article appeared in print on May 22, 2012, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Masters of Attack Ads Take
Subtle Shot at Obama.
At 40, Steering the Right’s Vast Money
Machine
Jay Westcott/Politico
Carl Forti will direct at least $400 million in political money.
By NICHOLAS CONFESSORE
Published: The New York Times National Edition, July 22, 2012, p. A1+
The most influential political strategist of the 2012 campaign works out of an unmarked suite in
an anonymous office park in suburban Virginia, a few floors above a Japanese-themed
steakhouse. He does not work for one of the presidential campaigns. He is not a pundit.
But Carl Forti, a low-profile Buffalo native who served as the political director of Mitt Romney’s
first White House campaign, will deploy at least $400 million in political money this season,
more than Senator John McCain spent running for president in 2008.
After years in the Republican Party trenches, Mr. Forti, 40, is now a consultant and strategist for
the biggest of the outside groups and “super PACs” that are rapidly displacing parties as the
means for raising and spending vast amounts of political money.
In those roles, his work embodies the coordinated punch brought by like-minded groups to the
effort to oust President Obama and give Republicans full control of Congress.
And as a veteran of Mr. Romney’s inner circle, he brings to the effort a keen understanding of
the Romney campaign’s needs even as he is barred by campaign finance law from working
directly with it.
Mr. Forti is the political director of American Crossroads, the super PAC founded by his mentor,
Karl Rove; Mr. Forti’s firm, the Black Rock Group, is a consultant to tax-exempt groups like the
60 Plus Association, which are expected to spend millions of dollars on ads this fall; and he is a
founder of Restore Our Future, the super PAC that helped Mr. Romney in his bid for this year’s
Republican presidential nomination.
Now, with Mr. Romney prohibited from spending much of the cash he is raising until after the
Republican convention in August, Mr. Forti and his clients are filling in the breach: Crossroads
Grassroots Policy Strategies, Restore Our Future and other Forti-linked groups have spent at
least $35 million on advertising in 17 states against Mr. Obama since early April, according to
the Campaign Media Analysis Group.
On Thursday, American Crossroads announced that it would begin a $9 million, nine-state
campaign defending Mr. Romney against the Obama campaign’s attacks on his tenure at Bain
Capital. The ads signify a pronounced shift in strategy for Crossroads, which has spent heavily
on advertising attacking Mr. Obama, and demonstrate how super PACs and outside groups can
synchronize with the candidates they support without violating federal rules that prohibit direct
coordination.
“What happened to Barack Obama?” the narrator in the ad asks. “The press and even Democrats
say his attacks on Mitt Romney’s business record are misleading, unfair and untrue.”
Mr. Rove and others crisscross the country raising most of the money, tapping a network of
wealthy conservatives and business executives determined to see Mr. Obama defeated. But at
Crossroads and Restore Our Future, it is chiefly Mr. Forti who figures out how to spend it.
Drawing on his political acumen and knowledge of the swing-state political terrain built over
three election cycles at the National Republican Campaign Committee, which oversees
Republican strategy for House races, Mr. Forti trolls through reams of polling data, picks targets,
approves scripts and helps negotiate with television stations for airtime in significant markets.
Most of the advertising has been placed through a company called Crossroads Media, founded
by one of Mr. Forti’s Black Rock partners and housed in the same office suite. So far this cycle,
Crossroads and Restore Our Future have broadcast ads in about 40 Senate and House races as
well as the presidential race, officials at the groups said, a breadth unmatched in the world of
independent spending.
“We came up through the party infrastructure, where you are forced to look at the entire national
battlefield,” said Brian O. Walsh, a friend and former colleague of Mr. Forti’s who directs the
American Action Network, a tax-exempt group closely allied with Crossroads.
American Crossroads and its tax-exempt affiliate, Crossroads GPS, are expected to spend $300
million on the presidential campaign and Senate races; Restore Our Future is planning to raise at
least $100 million and possibly more. Americans for Job Security, a tax-exempt trade association
that spent $9 million in 2010 but is not required to release the names of its donors, shares office
space with Black Rock and retains one of Mr. Forti’s partners as a consultant.
Mr. Forti, whose clients prize his discretion almost as much as his expertise, declined to be
interviewed for this article. But he is well known to watchdog groups tracking the explosive
growth of outside spending this year — and is feared by the Democratic candidates who have
been pummeled by Crossroads ads.
“He’s pretty good at keeping his name out of the papers,” said Melanie Sloan, the executive
director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “He needs big donors to know
he’s there — and no one else.”
Mr. Forti also helps lead a monthly meeting known as the Weaver Terrace Group, where
officials from a variety of conservative groups, like the American Action Network, gather at the
Crossroads offices to plan their political spending. (Several other groups that attend, like
Americans for Tax Reform and the Republican Jewish Coalition, have also received large grants
from Crossroads, enabling them to run their own large-issue ad campaigns.)
The meetings allow an extraordinary level of coordination on the right: over the last month or so,
conservative groups have taken turns pounding Mr. Obama in critical states like Florida, Iowa
and Michigan, the advertising buys dovetailing to ensure a constant barrage. And the enormous
budgets that Crossroads and its allies now command allow for high-quality advertising with
production values on a par with presidential campaigns, said several consultants who work for
outside groups.
Mr. Forti’s own career is a case study in the evolution of unrestricted money and outside groups
from the margins to the mainstream of American politics. He spent seven and a half years at the
House campaign committee. In his last year, 2006, he supervised its $80 million “independent
expenditure” campaign, so called because the spending is financed by the party but cannot be
coordinated with the party’s candidates.
Congressional scandals and the war in Iraq helped turn that election into a Democratic rout, with
Republicans losing control of the House of Representatives. But the effort cemented Mr. Forti’s
reputation as a master of the complicated legal and logistical demands of independent spending.
“He’s a Gatling gun,” said Thomas M. Reynolds, a former Republican congressman from New
York who was the chairman of the House committee that year. “He’s got multiple races going at
any given time. Carl’s unflappable, disciplined and focused.”
During the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Forti was Mr. Romney’s
political director, serving alongside the two men with whom he founded Restore Our Future last
year: Charles R. Spies, the campaign’s chief counsel, and Larry McCarthy, a veteran ad creator.
When Mr. Romney dropped out of the 2008 race, Mr. Forti signed on with Freedom’s Watch, a
conservative group that spent at least $30 million in an effort to counterbalance liberal groups
like MoveOn.org.
Mr. Forti has often worked at the edge of the regulatory envelope that governs outside spending.
Freedom’s Watch ignored a demand from the Federal Election Commission that it disclose its
finances, after reports that the casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson had provided virtually all of
the group’s financing and was directing its political spending, a circumstance that would
normally have stripped the tax-exempt group of its right to keep its donors private. (The
commission’s Republican and Democratic members deadlocked on pursuing the investigation,
leaving the group’s finances undisclosed.)
In 2009, after Mr. Forti founded the Black Rock Group with two other Republican consultants,
the company sought a legal opinion from the election commission that would have allowed it to
solicit money from donors and coordinate spending without registering as a political committee.
The proposal, which would have allowed the donors to spend money on political advertising
without being subject to contribution limits, was not approved.