Committees taking over campaigns' fund-raising
Money game being played out among PACs supporting candidates
Washington: An unmistakable dynamic is playing out in the money game among Republican presidential candidates: New ‘super' political action committees (PACs) are growing more powerful than the campaigns they support.
For two of the Republican front-runners, their supportive super PACs raised more money and have more cash left in the bank than the candidates' own campaigns.
Helping their efforts are major financial gifts from wealthy business executives, whose contributions can be essential to the groups' continued operations.
Mitt Romney-leaning Restore Our Future and Newt Gingrich-supportive Winning Our Future raised a combined $17 million (Dh62 million) last month and spent nearly $24 million during that same period.
That financial strength allowed the groups to splash the airwaves in key primary states with millions of dollars in TV ads.
The proliferation of new super PACs continues to underscore how the groups, which can raise and spend unlimited sums, are influencing the race.
The groups' fundraising last month offers a periodic behind-the-scenes glimpse into the identities of the rich supporters who will help elect the next president, along with details on how the millions of dollars they donated have been spent.
Disclosure
Restore Our Future, which had $16 million cash on hand, has been boosted by more than two dozen repeat donors. Winning Our Future, had $2.4 million.
Meanwhile, Romney raised $6.5 million last month and had $7.7 million left over for his presidential bid, while Gingrich's presidential campaign raised $5.5 million during the same period and had about $1.8 million remaining.
The super PACs, as well as other groups supporting other candidates and the individual campaigns, were required to disclose how much they raised and the identities of their donors in reports filed with the Federal Election Commission by midnight on Monday.
