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The Republican election grift machine

PhDeac

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Donors gave a House candidate more than $8 million. A single firm took nearly half of it.






U.S. House candidate Kim Klacik walked onto Mike Huckabee’s cable talk show last August as the latest conservative celebrity, riding high on a viral campaign ad that had attracted 10 million views and was shared on social media by President Donald Trump and his eldest son.

“We raised close to $2 million,” the Republican congressional hopeful said of the three-minute spot, which showed her marching in a red dress and high heels past abandoned buildings in Baltimore, asserting that Democrats do not care about Black lives.


But later that night, Klacik’s staff told her it would be best to stop disclosing how much money the ad had raised for her campaign against Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D) — because she wouldn’t be keeping much of it, Klacik recounted in an interview.

The company that produced the video, Arsenal Media Group, would take a cut. And a firm hired to promote the video, Olympic Media, would keep up to 70 percent of the money it generated, some of which was not disclosed in Klacik’s initial campaign finance filings.


Klacik, a self-described college dropout who launched a nonprofit organization to help disadvantaged women before running for office, said she did not personally approve or know about the contract with Olympic Media until that conversation.


“When I saw it, I almost passed out,” she said.








Klacik reported paying millions of dollars to WinRed that actually went through the donation processor to other vendors. Stewart and a WinRed spokesman confirmed the error. Other Republican candidates, including Lacy Johnson and Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), also misreported expenses paid to vendors, WinRed said.Both the Klacik and Johnson campaigns said they are amending their filings. Jordan's campaign, which also hired Olympic Media for digital services, did not respond to a request for comment.

WinRed said in a statement that it “proactively insists that campaigns report fees accurately” to the Federal Election Commission and that it is “the responsibility of each campaign to manage their own agencies and their own FEC compliance.”

Stewart called the arrangement with Olympic the “price of doing business.” He said Olympic — which also worked for North Carolina Republican Madison Cawthorn, who won his House race — fit with the campaign’s insurgent brand and “did good work for us” by repackaging the Arsenal video.

But although Klacik said she thought Arsenal’s fees were fair, given the company’s creative work, she took issue with Olympic’s digital marketing rates.

“Whoever’s over there is making a killing,” she said.

Once campaigns have the donors’ names, email addresses and phone numbers, they can seek repeat donations and keep 100 percent of the proceeds. But if a candidate takes off as a national fundraising target, as Klacik and Lacy Johnson did, the share of the money collected by the fundraisers spikes as well.

“If you’re a candidate who doesn’t have money, that makes sense,” said one GOP consultant, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect the identity of his clients. “It’s just that, ultimately, the campaigns aren’t paying for it. The donors are.”

Suzanne Salata, who is active in Republican politics in San Jose, Calif., researched Klacik and gave her $500 after seeing her initial viral video on Fox News.

“I knew she was a long shot, but I felt it was worth investing in her,” said Salata, who also donated to Lacy Johnson and other GOP hopefuls.

But Salata found it “ridiculous” that companies would take a sizable cut of a candidate’s fundraising money. “Like at a nonprofit, if their overhead was 40 or 50 percent, you wouldn’t give to them,” she said. “It’s not exactly apples to apples. But I’ve never heard of a kickback like this [in campaigns].”

Greg Ruggles of Bettendorf, Iowa, sent Klacik $100 after stumbling onto her Baltimore campaign ad. He said he felt a little “duped”after learning that a large chunk may have gone to a vendor.

“If you’re giving money to a cause,” he said, “you want it to go to the cause, not to the company creating the ad.”

In the future, he added, “I’ll certainly be more cautious about my donations.”
 

There really is a sucker born every minute. So much of the GOP base sees themselves as sharp, shrewd, independent thinkers, yet they've been shown to be easy marks over and over again for a seemingly endless array of Evangelical/Televangelist charlatans, right-wing con artist politicians, and other modern-day medicine men/quack salesmen and media propaganda machines (the MyPillow guy, the "Ark Experience" in Kentucky, false outrage over cancel culture, etc.) and on and on.
 
It wasn’t lost on me that the article featured two Black candidates running in heavily Black districts in elections they had no chance of winning who got huge donations from likely a large base of white Republicans from well outside their district. Could be because that’s who is targeted. Could be that’s who is willing to speak up against the system.
 
i read Trump is asking for people to donate directly to him for 2024, bypassing GOP.

i am sure he will use this money wisely
 
i read Trump is asking for people to donate directly to him for 2024, bypassing GOP.

i am sure he will use this money wisely

This is a power move in that direction.[h=1]POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Trump sends legal notice to GOP to stop using his name[/h]
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/03/06/scoop-trump-sends-legal-notice-to-gop-to-stop-using-his-name-492021

SCOOP: TRUMPS SENDS CEASE-AND-DESIST TO RNC, NRCC AND NRSC. Lawyers for former President DONALD TRUMP sent out cease-and-desist letters Friday to the three largest fundraising entities for the Republican Party — the RNC, NRCC and NRSC — for using his name and likeness on fundraising emails and merchandise, a Trump adviser tells Playbook.
We reported yesterday that Trump was furious that his name has been bandied about by organizations that help Republicans who voted to impeach him — without his permission. Trump, who made his fortune in licensing, has always been sensitive to how his name has been used to fundraise and support members, even while in office.
On Friday, the RNC sent out two emails asking supporters to donate as a way to add their name to a “thank you” card for Trump. “President Trump will ALWAYS stand up for the American People, and I just thought of the perfect way for you to show that you support him!” the email states. “As one of President Trump’s MOST LOYAL supporters, I think that YOU, deserve the great honor of adding your name to the Official Trump ‘Thank You’ Card.” A follow-up email was sent hours later to “President Trump’s TOP supporters” warning of a deadline of 10 hours to get their names on the card.
None of the committees returned a request for comment. But privately GOP campaign types say it’s impossible not to use Trump’s name, as his policies are so popular with the base. If Trump really wants to help flip Congress, they argue he should be more generous. His team, however, sees this differently.
“President Trump remains committed to the Republican Party and electing America First conservatives, but that doesn’t give anyone - friend or foe -

 
This is a power move in that direction.[h=1]POLITICO Playbook: Scoop: Trump sends legal notice to GOP to stop using his name[/h]
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/03/06/scoop-trump-sends-legal-notice-to-gop-to-stop-using-his-name-492021



How in the high holy fuck did this country ever elect that man president? What an absolutely despicable human being.

I will admit, I am a reformed pub. The first presidential vote I ever cast was for Gerald Ford. I am a two-time Reagan voter. A three-time Bush voter. But over the last decade my view of the republican party has gone from one of favorability, to bewilderment, to disdain, to utter disgust. And what's happening in the GA legislature right now is genuinely frightening. Geez, I never thought I'd walk into a booth and vote straight D just because of the D.
 
Shorty, you missed the point. When the RNC stops using Trump's name, he's going to cry and claim they cancelled him.
 
How in the high holy fuck did this country ever elect that man president? What an absolutely despicable human being.

I will admit, I am a reformed pub. The first presidential vote I ever cast was for Gerald Ford. I am a two-time Reagan voter. A three-time Bush voter. But over the last decade my view of the republican party has gone from one of favorability, to bewilderment, to disdain, to utter disgust. And what's happening in the GA legislature right now is genuinely frightening. Geez, I never thought I'd walk into a booth and vote straight D just because of the D.


Haha, this is where i was 10 years ago. When Republicans put fucking Palin on a ticket, I knew it was unlikely for me to vote Republican again. I was already moving to more of an independent at that time due to W. I have gone straight D last two...which, looking back, i never would have seen coming.
 
How in the high holy fuck did this country ever elect that man president? What an absolutely despicable human being.

I will admit, I am a reformed pub. The first presidential vote I ever cast was for Gerald Ford. I am a two-time Reagan voter. A three-time Bush voter. But over the last decade my view of the republican party has gone from one of favorability, to bewilderment, to disdain, to utter disgust. And what's happening in the GA legislature right now is genuinely frightening. Geez, I never thought I'd walk into a booth and vote straight D just because of the D.


I'm with you.

Been voting D since about 2010.

Pubs have gone to hell.
 
Interesting how the self-proclaimed "independents" on the Tunnels skew heavily as straight ticket Dem voters.

Just a coincidence, I'm sure.
 
Put another way, decent and informed people have no home in the modern Republican party. They've been pushed out as the party descended into intractable shittiness.


The party is increasingly a conglomeration of the passionately duped and dumb.


It's lamentable.
 
Interesting how the self-proclaimed "independents" on the Tunnels skew heavily as straight ticket Dem voters.

Just a coincidence, I'm sure.

Just like all those "independent thinkers" I know who somehow always vote Republican, no matter what. That works both ways, I'm sure.
 
Just like all those "independent thinkers" I know who somehow always vote Republican, no matter what. That works both ways, I'm sure.

You can't equate the two situations. Sometimes god uses imperfect vessels. You can't subvert god's will. He wanted a lying, grifting, crass, racist, insurrection inciting, putin loving, autocratic, p*ssy grabber in the Whitehouse for the judges. god needed those judges.

I did not want him... but... god did so... nothing I could do!
-col anus
 
"No more money for RINOS": Trump urges supporters to donate to his PAC

https://www.axios.com/trump-donate-...rnc-35e8cb38-e0b5-4249-b993-26d7070569a0.html

“Former President Trump asked supporters in an email Monday to donate directly to him and not other Republicans, hours after the Republican National Committee rejected his demand to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising appeals.”


Republicans out here reaping what they sowed.
 
Republicans out here reaping what they sowed.

Indeed. No sympathy for them in this.

Unfortunately, there’s a price we’re all paying for their preference to seek/hold power by dishonest fear mongering.
 
As crazy as these times are, there is still, given all that we've seen and heard since 2016, something logical and inevitable about 1) Trump demanding that his cult followers send their donations directly to him and his personal campaign organizations, while ordering various Republican Party organizations to cease using his name for their fundraisers, and 2) Various Republican Party organizations simply ignoring said order and continuing to use Dear Leader's name to raise funds, because without using his name they're finding it difficult to rake in their usual cash flow from corporations and wealthy individuals who have grown wary of donating to them. The "trickle down" party indeed.
 
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