This post has been updated.
DENVER -- On the morning after the first presidential debate, a host of political stars from the conservative firmament -- perhaps including GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney himself -- will be here for a gathering of Colorado members of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Update October 4, 11:58 a.m.: Romney made a surprise appearance at CPAC, emphasizing a Republican victory in in Colorado, one of the eight states that the non-partisan Cook Political Report considers as tossup in this year's presidential race.
CPAC Colorado, whose slogan is "Mobilizing the Mountain West," is a project of ...
Continue readingColorado: Team Romney keeping a low profile in a swing state?
The campaign activity that's visible so far calls into question how much the Republican nominee and his backers plan to invest in a state where recent polling shows Obama ahead of Romney, and public records show the president outspending his rival in major television markets.
Continue readingShow us the Obama and Romney Super PAC donors
On the eve of the Democratic convention, Priorities USA Action, the super PAC that is supporting President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, has announced that it raised $10 million in August, via this report in the New York Times. However, we won't know who has donated this money until official reports are due at the Federal Election Commission (FEC) later this month.
Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has not yet released its fundraising totals for August. In July, the group raised $7.5 million. Top donors to the group include Casino magnate ...
Continue readingCorporate funded nonprofit works at nexus of politics and entertainment
A corporate-funded nonprofit organization that operates out of a Washington, DC lobbying firm's offices and describes itself as working in the "nexus between the entertainment community and Washington" will be helping to host a "high-profile evening event" on Tuesday at the Democratic convention in Charlotte.
The Artists and Athletes Alliance is one of the cosponsors of an "In the Know VIP session" organized by The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress. The session will feature political gossip columnist Judy Kurtz.
Artists and Athletes specializes in bringing athletes and entertainers together with politicians, government executives and the media. Founded in ...
Continue readingHouse freshmen: GOP insiders fuel Scott Tipton’s campaign
There’s a gold nugget in the middle of GOP freshman Rep. Scott Tipton’s Colorado congressional district, which sprawls across the western, largely rural, part of the state, and its name is Aspen.
Tipton, who two years ago upset three-term Blue Dog Democrat John Salazar -- brother of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar -- is getting direct help from GOP donors in the wealthy mountain town, as he is facing a notable challenge from Democrat Sal Pace, a state legislator, in a district that drew substantial sums of outside spending last time around. It is considered far more competitive than the race ...
Continue readingFrom cigars to coins to repealing health care reform: GOP frosh pursue mostly expected legislation
They rode into office on a wave of disgust with Washington insiders whom the public perceived as catering to special interests. Yet among the roughly two dozen bills that congressional freshmen have rallied to support is one that would benefit an icon of political cronyism.
The Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., would prevent the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from regulating the stogies smoked by the likes of disgraced former Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and featured as a draw at many a political fundraiser. Fully three-quarters of the ...
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Stealthy Wealthy: To Robert Rowling, political giving makes business sense
Texas-based billionaire Robert Rowling has given a total of $6.8 million to American Crossroads, the super PAC that has run ads criticizing President Barack Obama for, among other things, bailing out and bankrolling private businesses with public money. Yet Rowling, seen at right, a member of the Forbes 400 list of the wealthiest Americans who inherited his fortune, hasn't been averse to seeking taxpayer assistance in his own business ventures. And he's been willing to use his private fortune to seek public dollars.
Though he's a less well-known name than mega donors like George Soros or ...
Continue readingWisconsin’s Ron Johnson defends gun ownership
Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican whose state is the site of the nation's most recent deadly shooting spree, this time at a Sikh temple, has benefitted from more than $1.3 million from gun rights groups, far more than any other member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation.
Overall, gun rights groups and associated individuals, dominated by the National Rifle Association (NRA), have poured $1.6 million into campaigns involving members of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, according to a search on Influence Explorer. In contrast, gun control groups have spent $11,300 since 1989.
Tea party enthusiast Johnson won ...
Continue readingColorado politicians magnets for gun contributions
Despite suffering two of the worst gun killings in the nation's history--Columbine and now the "Batman" shootings--Colorado, with its cowboy swagger and reputation for independence, has long been home to supporters of gun rights. And its politicians, mostly Republicans, but some Democrats as well, have been magnets for contributions from gun rights groups, benefiting from more than $3.8 million in political spending since 1989, according to a search on Influence Explorer.
In contrast, gun control groups have spent $140,342 in the state for federal and state campaigns. Of that amount, $48,000 came from the ...
Continue readingOn the floor of Congress, lawmakers lionized Penn State’s Joe Paterno
How quickly a hero rises--and sometimes keeps rising, despite a fall--as was the case with Joe Paterno, who today was posthumously stripped of his record for the most wins for victories for college football coaches thanks to scandal surrounding convicted former coach Jerry Sandusky's child abuse.
Once the hero in his home state and beyond, a search of mentions of the name "Joe Paterno" on Sunlight's Capitol Words shows the peak at 88 in November 2001, soon after the coach led Penn State to break the record for NCAA division I-A victories, reaching the 324 mark, defeating Ohio ...
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