The arrival of the super PACS has resulted in a profound change in the nominating process, as candidates disclaim responsibility for the super PACS’ negative advertising. And because the GOP is the party with a contested primary race this year, its eventual nominee may pay a price for the super-PAC-fueled negative ads.
“I think super PACs may have created a system of mutually assured destruction,’’ said Mark McKinnon, who has been a media consultant to the presidential campaigns of George W. Bush and John McCain. “No matter who wins, they will have been so thoroughly nuked no one can govern because they’ll be completely radioactive.’’
Every candidate has a related super PAC, an independent but closely allied organization that can collect unlimited sums from individuals, corporations, and labor unions. As the campaigns move from state to state, so do the super PACs, which revealed donors and their contributions for the second half of 2011 Tuesday.
Restore Our Future, supporting front-runner Mitt Romney, has laid into his chief rival, Newt Gingrich, in Iowa and Florida. Winning Our Future, backing Gingrich, has become increasingly strident in its attacks on Romney. The result? Both candidates now are viewed negatively by the general electorate, recent polling shows, and the numbers have been spiking.
“What’s developed is this division of labor where the candidate’s campaign has the ability to focus more of its advertising on positive messages because they can leave the negative to the super PACs,’’ said Anthony J. Corrado, a Colby College professor of government who specializes in campaign finance issues. “As a result, the very negative primary campaign is going to leave whoever is the nominee in a position where they begin the general election with fairly high negatives.’’
And it could get worse, with Gingrich vowing to fight all the way to the August convention in Tampa.
Outside groups attempting to influence elections are nothing new. They existed before the Supreme Court ruling two years ago that lifted limits on contributions and the timing and content of electioneering messages. But they were prevalent in the general election, not the nominating phase.
