But one thing is for sure: he made a mockery of the regulatory framework that already governs crusade money.
A PAC, or political action committee, is an organization tailored to a candidate by raising and spending cash on various activities; It does not pretend to be coordinated or controlled through the candidate.
Super PACs have been a force in caucus politics since 2012. That year marked the first nomination circular after the U. S. Supreme Court, in the Citizens United decision, opened the floodgates to unregulated contributions and spending through outdoor groups. What’s at stake lately is that super PACs can’t contribute directly to the federal candidates’ crusade budget and can’t coordinate with crusades. Since 2012, super PACs have spent freely on advertising, dominating the airwaves in 2016 and 2020.
During the 2024 Iowa caucus campaign, the DeSantis-backed super PAC marked new territory by investing largely in the candidate’s ground game, recruiting and educating organizers in Iowa and sending them early to engage with Iowa Republicans face to face.
But the new territory didn’t stop there. Never Back Down appeared to disregard that ban on coordination with the campaign. Super PACs and campaigns have developed methods to allow them to coordinate while preserving the image of independence. Yet, strangely, Never Back Down and the campaign seemed determined to make their coordination transparent.
The Super PAC boldly released its memo online outlining a proposed strategy for the candidate ahead of the first Republican debate in August. The goal was never entirely clear, but he managed to send recommendations to the campaign.
Never Back Down appears to have helped pay for the candidate’s plane trip, according to the Washington Post.
The Super PAC recruited donors to contribute directly to the campaign. Sponsored candidate occasions where he took care of the food bill for registered participants. The candidate arrived on the bus with the unmistakable slogan “Never back down” plastered to the side. And the super PAC trumpeted that the candidate’s wife had been going door-to-door with Never Back Down pollsters.
In December 2023, the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan group tracking crusade funding, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the crusade and super PAC of engaging in “an illegal coordination scheme. “A spokesperson for DeSantis called the allegations “baseless. “
This might not be the biggest story to come out of Iowa. But it sends a notable and disturbing message to federal candidates, Democratic and Republican: Don’t let the law stand in your way.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. There’s already ample evidence that the presidential…
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s news and opinion research platform and was originally published on The Conversation.
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s news and opinion research platform. Originally published in The Conversation. Never. . .