Candidates and political parties are limited in the amounts of contributions they can take. But, according to a Supreme Court ruling, private groups can spend as much as they like to elect or tear down candidates, resulting in the formation of so-called Super Political Action Committees (Super PACS). But not all Super PACS are about electing Democrats or Republicans, liberals or conservatives. The Washington Post tells about one that is dedicated to defeating incumbents of either party:
In two Ohio congressional primaries Tuesday, a Texas-based group spent almost $190,000 supporting a pair of candidates who could not be more different: a tea party conservative and a liberal icon, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio).
The group’s enemy is incumbency — of any ideological stripe, anywhere in the country. The Campaign for Primary Accountability, founded by the son of a Houston construction magnate, is targeting longtime incumbents in House districts that are otherwise safe for their party. Group leaders say these long-term lawmakers who face scant competition have created a “permanent political class” that has poisoned politics.
The organization is one of a new class of super PACs able to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money that aims to alter the balance of congressional races, much as similar groups have done in the Republican presidential race. There are Democratic super PACs devoted to holding the party’s majority in the Senate and retaking the House and Republican ones with designs on just the opposite.
But no super PAC has sought to tap into the public outrage toward Congress quite the way that the Campaign for Primary Accountability has.
“We’re trying to make the electoral system competitive, so that Congress will become more accountable to the voters,” Leo Linbeck III, the founder of the new super PAC, said in an e-mail interview. “It’s not about policy, it’s about governance. We’re not interested in shifting power between Republicans and Democrats. We’re interested in shifting power between Congress and the people.”
via One super PAC takes aim at incumbents of any party – The Washington Post.
I suspect there may be in existence or in the works a Super PAC to elect women, no matter their party. Or African Americans. Or candidates with physical disabilities.
What would be some other non-partisan Super PACS that someone should form? One to elect Lutherans? Or the left-handed? (I am looking for serious, semi-serious, and humorous suggestions.)
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