General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It's gone from annoying, to sad, to pathetic. [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)Democratic leadership in both the House and the Senate have PACs up that help to fund Democratic candidates in House and Senate races.
http://www.dscc.org/
http://dccc.org/
And they are working the room, too, with those rubber chicken dinners. They don't fund primary campaigns--they do help primary winners, though.
Also, individual Senators and Representatives have their own PACs, that they use to help up-and-coming candidates break out. As an example--people here just love to shit on Clinton, but her HILLPAC helped a lot of people get elected. See:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2002&cmte=C00363994
You can pick the year for the time she had that PAC up and running, and see to whom she gave the money she raised.
She's not the only one who has done this, either.
Any time there is drama, like what is happening in VA, political organizations USE it to advance their cause. Have you ever heard the expression "Fast dimes are better than slow dollars?" Those five dollar donations do two things BESIDES add money to the coffers--they identify people who care about a particular issue, and they develop a list of people who can be tapped in outyear elections for money, volunteer efforts, etc. It's like a Christmas card list on steroids....