“Bush Outstrips Rivals in Fund-Raising as ‘Super PACs’ Swell Candidates’ Coffers”

NYT‘s Nick Confessore:

The full cash position of the campaigns — and the names of who, exactly, is supplying all this money — will not be clear until the end of the month, when each candidate is to have filed formal disclosures with the Federal Election Commission. But the rapid influx of super PAC money suggests that theRepublican Party could be in for a particularly long and bloody nomination fight, one that could drag on well into next year.

“Having a well-funded campaign and a really well-funded super PAC will allow a lot of candidates to stick around a lot longer than they traditionally would, to drag out the process, and to make it harder for the nominee to pivot to the Democrat,” said Scott W. Reed, senior political strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The scale and pace of the fund-raising are unprecedented. Together, the Republican candidates and their super PACs have already reported raising at least five times more money than the entire 2012 field had raised by June 2011.

At one point this winter, Mr. Bush’s super PAC discouraged donors from giving more than $1 million, so as not to create the appearance of undue influence by wealthy supporters. On Thursday the super PAC put out a news release boasting of thousands of donors who had given no more than $25,000 — the super PAC equivalent of pocket change.

 

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