As TPM reported earlier this week, big money has been largely absent from the Kansas Senate race, but that looks to be changing. First, there was a report Thursday from CNN that the Koch brothers behemoth Americans for Prosperity would finally come to the aid of Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS).
Now Politico is reporting that independent Greg Orman is getting a boost from independent-minded billionaires Peter Ackerman and John Burbank — and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is considering getting involved as well.
According to Politico, the Committee to Elect an Independent Senate has reserved $220,000 in airtime for Orman and has already collected donations from Ackerman and Burbank, who helped back Sen. Angus King (I-ME) in 2012.
Bloomberg is also considering putting money into the race, his political adviser Howard Wolfson told Politico, through his Independence USA PAC, which is set to spend $25 million over the next month.
Even without a TV, or a subscription to the local rag, i’m still overly exposed to hyper-partisan campaign adds. I’m glad to see Bloomberg money flowing to Orman, but Robert’s and Brownback are pouring a tsunami of money into adds. Brownback is focusing uniqely on taxes. Robert’s is claiming that Orman is a Democrat. And that’s about the extent of their arguments. Simple strategies for simple minds. Neither one of them expected there to be an actual campaign this fall in order to win reelection. Surprise! People pay attention to your actions, even when you ignore them! Yes, you are expected to be accountable to the people who put you in your elected office!
A free and open stacking of specie and notes by ordinary billionaires just as the Founders imagined…
This would make great reality TV… Billionaire versus Billionaire
Bloomberg? Kansas? Really? How can that help Orman? Won’t the crowd that endlessly shrieks “Soros!!!” in response to just about anything jump all over that one? If I were Orman, I might say thanks, but don’t “help” me, Mike. They already think I’m a Democrat. Now they might think I’m shhhhh Jewish too. Yes, Virginia, there is something the matter with Kansas.
That is a lot of speech.