2010 Republicans Buy Themselves an Election
Tuesday's midterm elections — and the record-shattering amounts outside groups spent to oust Democratic incumbents — are just a warm-up to the 2012 presidential race, analysts and experts say.
Conservative groups outspent liberal groups by a more than 2-to-1 ratio heading into an Election Day that brought the biggest Republican sweep in the House of Representatives in decades and sliced into the Democratic majority in the Senate.
"The Democrats brought a bat, and the Republicans brought a grenade," said Dave Levinthal of the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign money. "If you think spending is out of control by outside groups, it likely will blow your mind in the presidential election."
President Obama has repeatedly lambasted conservative groups for their role in the midterm elections and criticized the Supreme Court's decision in January that opened the floodgates to unlimited corporate and union spending on election ads.
Conservative spending has topped $187 million this year, up from $19.6 million in 2006, the last midterm election, the center's data show.
The leader of one of the leading GOP organizations said on Wednesday that it plans to play a big role in 2012.
"People wanted Congress and the president to address the economy and felt that instead the Congress and the president were pursuing an agenda that has nothing to do with what the average American wanted," said Steven Law, CEO of American Crossroads and a related group that spent more than $38 million combined to influence races.
"Our goal was to amplify that," he said. "The main thing for the president to do is to listen to that for his own sake and for the country's sake. If he decides not to, we will amplify it even louder in 2012."
In more than 50 House races, outside groups and party committees outspent the candidates, a USA TODAY analysis shows. Other trends:
•In the 48 House contests in which outside groups spent a combined $1 million or more, Republicans won two-thirds, a USA TODAY analysis of election results and campaign reports shows. In one Upstate New York district, conservative groups such as American Crossroads, the Tea Party Express and the 60 Plus Association bought $2.8 million in negative ads attacking freshman Democratic Rep. Scott Murphy on health care, helping Republican Christopher Gibson win 55% of the vote.
•Self-funded candidates of both parties faired poorly Tuesday. Only four of the 15 federal candidates who put $1 million or more into their own campaigns won on Tuesday, according to a tally by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Wrestling executive Linda McMahon lost the Connecticut Senate race, despite spending $46.6 million — or roughly $96 per vote. By comparison, her Democratic opponent, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, spent $12 per vote with campaign and personal funds.
Other self-funded candidates who lost include: former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, who spent more than $142 million of her own money in the California gubernatorial contest.
Some multimillion-dollar-spending candidates did have success. Republican Ron Johnson, CEO of a polymer company, spent $8.2 million of his own to oust Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis. Republican Rick Scott, founder of the hospital chain Columbia/HCA, spent $73 million in a successful bid for Florida governor.
•U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $32 million on 67 House and Senate races. The USA TODAY analysis shows that 72% of chamber-backed candidates won so far. But, it spent nearly $5 million against Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who won.
While the public shares some of the blame since it is their responsibility to do their research and see past the avalanche of advertising, Republicans sold the public lots of lies and smears. Republicans may have set a new record for running for office with no actual ideas. many right-wing candidates simply said vote for I'll develop some kind of plan once elected. Its just plain funny for CEO of American Crossroads to claim the public thinks Democrats have gone too far. It took eight years for Republicans to crash the economy with irresponsible economic policies. During this election cycle Republicans spent millions to convince the public it was not the fault of conservatives and everyone should be mad at Democrats for not repairing the damage done by conservatives fast enough,
