Walker donors thought they knew better than his staff how to run a campaign. In retrospect, they were probably right. http://t.co/348dgZIL8k
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) September 29, 2015
It’s like borrowing money from your in-laws — once you’ve accepted their generosity, they feel compelled to give you advice on how you’re spending “their” hard-earned cash. The NYTimes chronicles the gradual breakdown of civilities, as “Big Donors Seek Larger Roles in Presidential Campaigns“:
… In an election cycle that is already on track to break spending records, and with few limits on contributions to “super PACs” and other outside groups, big donors have never been more important. No longer satisfied with sitting on the sidelines and writing big checks, many of them are eager to play larger roles in the campaigns.
They expect their views to be heard quickly and their concerns taken seriously, sometimes creating headaches and potential awkwardness for the campaigns and super PACs, which must tend to the contributors and their seemingly endless suggestions and questions.
On one hand, the campaigns and their affiliated groups rely on the financial support and appreciate the occasional insights that come from people who have been successful in other fields.
On the other hand, they find themselves devoting more and more time to stroking donors’ egos, weighing their ideas, and soothing supporters whose panicked phone calls can be prompted by anything from an alarming Twitter post to a small stumble on a morning show.
“Donors are demanding a lot these days, man, and they want answers and they want results, and a lot of them hit the panic button a lot,” said Theresa Kostrzewa, a Republican lobbyist and donor based in North Carolina, who is supporting former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. “This is a new day. Donors consider a contribution like, ‘Well, wait, I just invested in you. Now I need to have my say; you need to answer to me.’ ”
Referring to the maximum direct donation to a candidate that the Federal Election Commission allows, she described the sentiment as: “I gave $2,700. I’m entitled to 2,700 opinions.”…
As handling concerns from contributors has become a crucial job for campaigns and super PACs, many have devoted at least one person, in part, to donor maintenance. Austin Barbour, a senior adviser to the super PAC that supported former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, said he would regularly receive a flurry of calls from worried donors — “What’s the plan? What are you putting on TV? Why are you doing that? Why are you not saying this?”But Mr. Barbour, who is now joining Mr. Bush’s campaign, said he was happy to field the complaints: “If they wanted to talk to me for an hour, I’d talk to them for an hour,” he said. “They were the ones who were funding what we were doing, so goodness gracious, the least thing I could do is answer whatever questions they had.”…
One might suspect that the Grey Lady was less worried about “donor input” than about the fact that, in this fallen era, every jumped-up thousandaire feels entitled to copious face time with the candidate. It used to be that an elite coterie of Serious Money Men could handle such matters with discretion, in quiet rooms. In the good old days, you just needed to tongue-bath movers and shakers like… Charles Koch, as described in this long star-struck Forbes piece:
… Q. What are your goals in this election?
A: My view of the political realm, not just now but for many decades, is that the Democrats are taking us down the road to serfdom over the cliff at 100 miles an hour and the Republicans are going around 70 miles an hour. What I want is to reverse the trajectory of this country…
Q. So will this presidential election decide anything? It doesn’t sound like you’re enthusiastic about anybody.A. My ideal candidates would be Calvin Coolidge or a William Gladstone. I mean, you look at what they did… Look what Calvin Coolidge did. He cut government expenditures in half. Cut tax rates by two- thirds, reduced the national debt by a third and cut unemployment from 12% to 2.4%. Now the only thing I hold against him is he didn’t run again so we got Herbert Hoover, who turned a recession into a great depression with his policies.
Q. You mentioned a white knight. What about Trump?A. Yeah, I mean, he’s… I’m not the only one person who’s frustrated with what’s going on in both parties. But I would hope there would be somebody who would capture that frustration, and what’s behind that frustration, and do what Calvin Coolidge or William Gladstone did and change the trajectory of the country. Now it’s not likely, because I’ve got to go back to Calvin Coolidge to find somebody who did that. I’ve got to go back to Gladstone in 1846…
The tragedy is that, given his access to the very best health care, this bitter old man is liable to outlive us all, doing his best to destroy the whole planet as he goes.
Felanius Kootea
Ahahahaha! Unfortunately this applies to Dem donors as well. Another reason to get rid of Citizen’s United.
goblue72
Our democracy is doomed. Its almost like after having bought their candidates, donors expect to be able to take that out of their toy box and play with them too.
Also too – I am totally not surprised that Darth Koch’s Presidential hero is Calvin Coolidge.
Calouste
Wow, enough projection to lit up the moon,
jze
Calvin Coolidge had nothing to with the great depression that started a few months after he left office.
ShadeTail
And that’s a problem, because the one holding the lash over the serfs *isn’t him*. We can’t have that, now can we?
raven
The idiots passed a short term budget.
Petorado
Contrast Justice Kennedy’s famous line, “We now conclude that independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption,” with “Well, wait, I just invested in you. Now I need to have my say; you need to answer to me.”
If only lawyers had to learn Latin terms like quid pro quo, they’d understand that corruption is giving a politician money in exchange for improper influence such as “you need to answer to me.”
Keith P.
Like Trump and McCarthy, at least they’re starting to be more open about what we already knew.
Roger Moore
And what were those policies? Oh, yeah, continuing the exact same policies that Mr. Koch is advocating today: laissez faire economics and balanced budgets. Coolidge was just lucky enough to jump out of the car before it went off the cliff.
Not That Guy
I once met a guy in a bar who said that if we called capitalism by its true name, which is money-ism, people would think about it differently.
I think he was on to something.
Peale
@Petorado: I guess you could argue that we have honest corruption. Openly spoken about. We’re looking around as people brag about bribery. In many countries, dishonest men and women are supposed to keep quiet about that. Maybe we should call it naive corruption.
Mike in NC
@jze: And Silent Cal got an able assist from Warren Harding.
Frankensteinbeck
I have been told repeatedly that the RNC would work out the kinks and unite the PAC system into one giant campaign machine. This is why it’s not going to happen. Once you let a rich person donate a million dollars, they expect to have their way with how it’s spent. You know how every single person here has a different opinion of how messaging should work, or what Obama should do in any situation? Blow that up with the egos who’ve never been told ‘no’ and decision makers who have never suffered for being wrong or crazy. Then throw in the grifters who flock to this giant pile of legally unregulated money.
Citizens United needs to go, and damages our democracy, but thank goodness it’s also self-poisoning.
Baud
@raven:
Cool. We’ll all get to have a Merry Christmas then.
Germy Shoemangler
@Baud: Baud/Cracker 2016
Jay C
@goblue72:
I’m wondering if Mr. Koch has ever taken the time to contemplate the fact that the American (indeed, the world’s) economy in the early 21st Century is quite a bit different from what it was in the 1920s?
Probably not: one thing that probably hasn’t changed much since the Coolidge Administration is that rich assholes will always be… well, rich assholes. Law of nature, I guess.
Baud
Hahahahahahaha
Petorado
@Peale: Yeah, but can you still that democracy?
jl
@Germy Shoemangler:
” Baud/Cracker 2016 ”
Sounds good to me. All the commenters will demand a say in the campaign.
Given the ‘Walker product’ I don’t see how whether his campaign staff or his nutcase billionaire funders controlled his campaign could make any difference. I hope the guy is not as much of a dolt and complete nonentity as his campaign indicated, but we all saw and heard what we saw and heard.
Roger Moore
In good news on the Democracy front, people trying to overturn California’s new, much stricter child immunization law have failed to get enough signatures to put it on the ballot. They needed about 366,000 valid signatures but were only able to collect 228,000 in the time allotted. Now the law can go into effect as it should.
Shakezula
Rich people throwing tantrums when they aren’t treated like special snowflakes? Shocked I am.
Ted Mills
Never forget: the Koch’s faulty pipeline burned a brother and sister alive while their father looked on helpless. And *nothing* happened to them.
goblue72
@Petorado: Do we even still have one?
ThresherK
Isn’t this a bit backwards? Looks like they started the business relationship by arguing over price, then established that Scotty was a hoor.
Baud
Reading up on Calvin Coolidge on Wikipedia. All in all, as Republican presidents go, Koch could have picked worse.
Oh, and according to wiki, state and local governments picked up the slack of reduced federal spending — their budgets grew considerably.
Benw
@Roger Moore: you’re telling me that Koch’s version of history is inaccurate? No way.
They want a president to drive the country into a depression while the enormously rich skim off the money? Oh, man, they were SO close with W.
Baud
@jl:
I have learned that the act of patronage is not as easy as it seemed. I have new respect for the wheelers and dealers in our political system.
Rob
Hooray, the federal government won’t shut down tomorrow!
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/09/government-shutdown-2015-spending-bill-214259
JPL
Wahoo… The Roaring Twenties all over again.
NickM
Free people who elect their leaders in a democracy cannot be serfs. Serve serve an aristocratic class. It kills me to see Lord Koch calling democracy serfdom and service to the oligarchy freedom. Perfectly backwards Orwellianisms.
BGinCHI
Gladstone opposed what conservatives were trying to do, for fuck’s sake.
They pretty much created the British welfare state.
Koch, you stupid fucking selfish prick, you are not even for what you say you are for! And you inherited your goddamn money.
You are every Dickens villain rolled into one character, but without the character.
Frankensteinbeck
@Rob:
Note that the moment Boehner decided to do his damn job and allow a clean bill to be voted on, it passed overwhelmingly.
Peale
@Petorado: There are lots of corrupt democracies in the world. You know, the kinds where people are elected to make things better, but then run off with the funds and make sure the oligarchy isn’t really challenged. Yeah, I know, pretty much all of those are what we would euphemistically call “emerging” markets and a lot of them can’t seem to figure out how to provide water without exposing the population to disease, but we aren’t really exceptional. Eventually, we’ll have their problems. Imagine, though. The excitement of being an “emerging” economy again.
ThresherK
@Rob: That’s the like getting home from an evening out with the spouse, and the sitter says, “Hey, your toddler didn’t get carried off by a coyote!”
The new normal: Celebrating avoiding things that were never problems years ago. Thanks, GOP.
Mike J
@Calouste:
Normal people think serfdom would mean a few rich people having the power of life and death over the masses. Koch thinks it means those rich people might have to pay taxes on their serf.
Karen
AKA WE OWN YOU,
SatanicPanic
The shame about money equaling speech is that the people with the most speech have the least valuable things to say
gene108
@Keith P.:
Rich people had some influence, but not on this scale.
I think pre-1976 / Watergate / Primary Era there was less campaigning to the public, as the candidates were not selected until the smoke cleared, in the smoke filled rooms, at the nominating conventions. You just did not need as much money to campaign, as the campaigning was less and shorter, so not as much money got thrown at candidates, which may have been a “natural” check on corruption.
Post 1976 reforms, you had kept contributions small enough that no one person could drop $1 million bucks or more onto a candidate like they are doing in these here election.
This is the perfect confluence of candidates needing a lot of cash, because the campaign for the 2016 Presidency started in 2014 or early 2015, while the super rich are free to throw around their money on those politicians they deem worthy. And those politicians will now have to jump to their strings or the funds will be cut off.
A pathetic state of affairs.
Patrick
So he wants to cut our military spending in half, eh…
jl
@Baud: I don’t have to worry about it, since some time ago I volunteered to troll against your campaign. Every candidate needs some blog trolls. I will begin:
“Baud is no good. Baud is a commie fascist. If Baud is president, the world will implode into a piece of moldy dog poo.”
That’s pretty basic, but I’ll practice and be up to speed soon.
Baud
@jl:
I appreciate your commitment.
That will get me votes on this blog.
SFAW
@Frankensteinbeck:
Only a million? What a piker, might as well sit in the bleachers with the rest of the yahoos. As Everett Dirksen (I think) once said “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.” [Disclaimer: Yes, it’s probably not verbatim. If only there were some way for me to check …]
A guy
Lol. If you have to borrow money from ur in laws you failed. Kinda like those who can’t figure a way to repay 22,000 in student loan debt
jl
@Baud: Ah, my trolling is counterproductive! I guess that is a sign of basic troll competence. Thanks. I feel like I am making progress already.
Benw
@jl: needs more irrelevant and misleadingly quoted polling statistics.
Baud
@gene108:
I would also add that they can get away with this because about 40% of the regular folks in this country who would normally react negatively to all this will not under any circumstances support a candidate with a D next to his or her name.
Rob
@Frankensteinbeck #32:
Noted with a sigh.
@ThresherK #34:
Sad but true.
I think the highway funding bill needs to be voted on by the end of October, the “fiscal cliff” looms sometime after that (?), and then in mid-December the federal government needs to be funded again. Thanks, Republicans, for all the dramas.
Baud
@jl: Maybe srv or RtR has an online course you can take.
Roger Moore
@jl:
Baud is opposed to cat ass shaving. Baud’s helicopters are laughing. Baud is not aware of all internet traditions.
Baud
@Roger Moore:
Too far, man.
raven
Kerry holding a presser with “Serge” is pretty funny.
catclub
@Baud: We also effectively disbanded the military between 1920 and 1935. Certainly the large standing army part.
realbtl
What about his (long form) credenzas? Has he made them public?
SRW1
So, Sarah could see Russia from her house and Charles K. can see a cliff somewhere in the universe millions of miles away.
Heliopause
My god, this is horrible news. WWIII sadly now appears to have only lasted 6 or 8 hours. Kerry and Lavrov are making a cold peace out of a cold war that’s been raging since I got up this morning. And without consulting Wolf Blitzer first. Disgraceful.
JPL
@Heliopause: Has Fox News said that Putin won?
Baud
@Heliopause:
what’s happening?
Schlemazel
@jl:
You forgot “limited corporate cash, BAY-BEE!”
srv
Hebetude meets Jebetude:
Terry Schaivo had more brain activity than this guy does.
Schlemazel
@srv:
I’m sure right to retch should be along shortly to explain that this is all part of the plan.
It surprising because I thought it would come down to Walkerbot v.04 and dumbellU’s dumber brother. Now it is in doubt
burnspbesq
@Petorado:
If only jackalopes like you understood the legal definition of conflict of interest, we wouldn’t have to listen to this kind of whingeing–or, alternatively, there might be a groundswell of support for legislative changes that would make that definition more to your liking.
trollhattan
@Roger Moore:
Nice. Now will Tim Donnelly kindly shut the hell up and go the hell away?
Mike in NC
@Heliopause: Earlier today the idiots on MSNBC, including Mrs. Greenspan and Michael Steele, were lamenting how badly Putin had blindsided the hapless lame duck Obama.
gratuitous
Billionaires bitching about how the system isn’t rigged enough in their favor. I’m not saying 1789 France was all right, but I’m not saying they were all wrong, either.
Thoughtful Today
WSJ via Booman:
‘The Onion’s’ satirical take: “Bernie Sanders Clearly In Pocket Of High-Rolling Teacher Who Donated $300 To His Campaign.”
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Guess US history was never a strong suit with Charley Koch.
Schlemazel
@burnspbesq:
Yes, and the mice voted to bell the cat
Heliopause
@Baud:
I didn’t catch it all but it was a joint presser and they pledged to keep lines of communication open or some such, yadda yadda yadda. I sure hope this peace is brief, I sunk everything into popcorn futures.
bluehill
Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell’s Chief of Staff, talks about how empires end and disproportionate control by the wealthy is one reason. Interesting and depressing talk.
srv
@bluehill: I’ll give it to the liberals – the 24×7 politics of divisiveness is succeeding beyond the right’s wildest dreams.
Bring. It. On.
Kay
@Ted Mills:
I wish it was just the Kochs.
They have been fining this company for safety violations for the last 25 years.
About a month ago there were four dead workers in Texas.. The company was fined less than a 100k. They’re expendable. They wouldn’t have to shut down a lot of them. If they shut down the worst 1% in quick succession and kept them closed until they fixed the problems word would spread and they’d straighten up fast. It’s not even fair to decent employers. It puts them at a disadvantage for following the rules.
Calouste
@bluehill: “Historically very stable”. Well, except for the unpleasantness of 1861-1865.
Jeffro
@goblue72:
Exactly, right? What else could we expect? I hope someone’s printing every last quote in the article and sending them on to Chief Justice Roberts. Money’s just free speech my a$$.
(Check out Stamp Stampede for some good lefty fun in this regard, btw)
feebog
If I was limited to just five pikes on which to attach heads they would be reserved for Dick Cheney, Antonin Scalia, Ted Cruz, and Charles and David Koch.
Cheap Jim, formerly Cheap Jim
Gladstone, eh? So,he’s for the estate tax?
Yatsuno
@trollhattan: Wait…you guys have your own Tim Eyman?
Thoughtful Today
hmmm
I misread Booman, or rather, trusted that he’d correctly read the WSJ report he was commenting on.
Bernie has a million donations. That’s not the same as a million donors (many of whom have made multiple donations).
https://duckduckgo.com/?t=lm&q=Bernie+million+donations
Roger Moore
@trollhattan:
I’m gonna say “NO!”. He will become even more of a PITA instead.
bluehill
@Calouste: Wilkerson acknowledges that the U.S. was built on the backs of black people and compares us to the Greek empire that was also built on the backs of slaves.
He says he’s a repub but he must be truly a RINO since he seems to believe in universal healthcare and favors diplomacy over military engagement.
Kay
@Thoughtful Today:
My husband made a 5 dollar Bernie donation because he got caught up in some email pitch frenzy. He was talking about making really small donations to all of them because he likes a race and he’s undecided. I don’t know if he’s done that but I told him to skip Jim Webb :)
He didn’t even ask why! Just agreed. I had reasons.
Baud
@Kay:
I wouldn’t be surprised if Chaffee calls your husband personally to thank him.
Patricia Kayden
I prefer the way Bernie Sanders is getting donations.
http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/bernie-sanders-reaches-1-million-donations-record-time
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: One “f”, dude.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
Sory.
WaterGirl
@Baud: ha!
Jeffro
@feebog: Trade ya a Koch brother for Alberto Gonzales up there
Kay
@Baud:
The only thing I know about him is the metric system, which isn’t fair but is true. So I told him that. He said “good- we should have gone to the metric system a long time ago”. He’s the Chaffee base, turns out.
WaterGirl
@Kay:
I laughed out loud.
Matt McIrvin
@Baud: Does the Coolidge article on Wikipedia still have that weird aside about how Hoover caused the Great Depression by being too much of a tax-and-spend liberal?
(It was dutifully sourced to a Coolidge bio by Amity Shlaes, so it’d probably be difficult to strike down.)
Baud
@Matt McIrvin:
I don’t recall reading that.
@Kay:
I hope he knows how to spell Chaffee’s name because I don’t.
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: I told you how. You must be a slow learner.
Baud
@Gin & Tonic:
How do I know I can trust you?
Frankensteinbeck
@Roger Moore:
You cudlips don’t get it. Baud is inevitable. While the other candidates trumpet and stampede around on national television, Baud’s internet-savvy grassroots campaign is sweeping up the young people, the dog photograph fanciers, and the naked mopping demographic. On election night 2016, Hillary will think she’s won, but the next morning Baud will be president and no one will even know.
Thoughtful Today
WaPo:
Bernie’s been very conservative with his expenditures. It’s helped that he’s benefiting from a tremendous number of volunteers across the country.
Gin & Tonic
@Baud: Trust is like faith. You can’t know.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: You can’t be betrayed if you don’t trust.
Suzanne
@Frankensteinbeck: Can FourLoko have a position in Baud’s administration or cabinet? That would be incredible.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suzanne: To the extent that I have a voice is this decision, the answer is no.
ETA: Unless a Deputy Under Secretary of Cudlip Relations is added as a sub-cabinet level position – for which I do not advocate.