Democrats renew push for campaign finance overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — The campaign finance system is so broken that legislative changes, including a constitutional amendment, are needed to rein in runaway, secret spending in elections, congressional Democrats said Thursday.

Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Tom Udall of New Mexico said they want to put Congress in charge of setting campaign contribution limits and regulating "super" political action committees. These committees can spend unlimited money supporting candidates as long as they don't coordinate with the candidates, yet are required to reveal little about who they are.

The two senators proposed the amendment late last year. But the issue is receiving renewed attention in light of GOP-leaning super PACs that are spending millions of dollars on ads this election season.

Bennet said most people can't evaluate ads or know if their backers have an axe to grind. He said a 2010 Supreme Court ruling known as Citizens United that removed limits on corporate and union spending in elections has made matters worse.

In the House, top Democrats introduced long-shot legislation that would require outside groups running campaign ads to quickly identify themselves and their top contributors. It also would beef up reporting requirements for corporations and lobbyists.

"The American people have a right to know who is bank-rolling these television ads," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a chief sponsor.

A similar effort to increase disclosure about campaign spending died in the Senate in 2010. This year's version is given little chance of clearing Congress.

The efforts come at the start of an election year that has already seen spending by super PACs swamp expenditures by Republican presidential candidates' own campaigns.

Through last week's Florida GOP primary, super PACs had spent at least $21 million on television ads. Expenditures by super PACs supporting Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum exceeded spending by the campaigns themselves.

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Will money trouble sink Newt Gingrich's campaign?

The bad news keeps coming for Newt Gingrich. Since his win in South Carolina's primary last month, the former House speaker has been trounced in five states. His campaign, which was down to its last $600,000 before Florida's Jan. 31 vote, has found it increasingly hard to raise cash in the wake of Mitt Romney's landslide win there. And now comes what could be the worst news of all: Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose family has donated $11 million to the pro-Gingrich Winning Our Future super PAC, has decided to stop sending checks, according to Bloomberg. Will this make it impossible for Gingrich to mount a comeback? Newt is finished: Sheldon Adelson "rescued Newt Gingrich's campaign in its early days," says Jaywon Choe at Business Insider. Now "he may have just buried it." With Gingrich performing poorly in state after state, Adelson has reportedly met with Mitt Romney, a clear sign he's exploring other options. Even "more alarming" for Newt is that "as money seems to be flooding out" of his camp, it appears to be flowing into his conservative rival Rick Santorum's campaign and super PAC.
"Billionaire Gingrich contributor to cut support"

Gingrich's conservative fire can save him: Gingrich can still "revive his campaign," says Tony Lee at Human Events, by reminding conservatives of the bold ideas that once pushed him to the top of the polls — an optional 15 percent flat tax, curbing the influence of liberal activist judges, and eliminating the capital gains tax.
"Gingrich will try to reset campaign at CPAC"

Newt's odds of a resurgence are getting worse: Gingrich's challenge after Florida "was to stay relevant until Super Tuesday" on March 6, says Justin Sink at The Hill. That means "raising money and solidifying his position as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney." Obviously, Santorum's wins in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri made it tougher for Newt to claim he's the Right's best bet. And without Adelson's money, he can't "match Romney in advertising." Newt will likely wind up "limping into the Super Tuesday contests."
"Report: Adelson done giving to Gingrich as funding dries up"

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Will money trouble sink Newt Gingrich's campaign?

The former House speaker is running on financial fumes. And now his super PAC patron is reportedly cutting him off The bad news keeps coming for Newt Gingrich. Since his win in South Carolina's primary last month, the former House speaker has been trounced in five states. His campaign, which was down to its last $600,000 before Florida's Jan. 31 vote, has found it increasingly hard to raise cash in the wake of Mitt Romney's landslide win there. And now comes what could be the worst news of all: Billionaire casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, whose family has donated $11 million to the pro-Gingrich Winning Our Future super PAC, has decided to stop sending checks, according to Bloomberg. Will this make it impossible for Gingrich to mount a comeback?

Newt is finished: Sheldon Adelson "rescued Newt Gingrich's campaign in its early days," says Jaywon Choe at Business Insider. Now "he may have just buried it." With Gingrich performing poorly in state after state, Adelson has reportedly met with Mitt Romney, a clear sign he's exploring other options. Even "more alarming" for Newt is that "as money seems to be flooding out" of his camp, it appears to be flowing into his conservative rival Rick Santorum's campaign and super PAC.
"Billionaire Gingrich contributor to cut support"

Gingrich's conservative fire can save him: Gingrich can still "revive his campaign," says Tony Lee at Human Events, by reminding conservatives of the bold ideas that once pushed him to the top of the polls — an optional 15 percent flat tax, curbing the influence of liberal activist judges, and eliminating the capital gains tax.
"Gingrich will try to reset campaign at CPAC"

Newt's odds of a resurgence are getting worse: Gingrich's challenge after Florida "was to stay relevant until Super Tuesday" on March 6, says Justin Sink at The Hill. That means "raising money and solidifying his position as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney." Obviously, Santorum's wins in Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri made it tougher for Newt to claim he's the Right's best bet. And without Adelson's money, he can't "match Romney in advertising." Newt will likely wind up "limping into the Super Tuesday contests."
"Report: Adelson done giving to Gingrich as funding dries up"

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Obama's Spotify playlist: 7 things it says about his campaign

The president has his re-election soundtrack all queued up. What can we learn about Obama's 2012 strategy by analyzing his 28 musical picks?

Presidents have chosen campaign theme songs since the era of John Adams. As of Thursday, President Obama has himself a whole playlist, available via online social music service Spotify. Obama, or more likely one of his aides, chose 28 songs that any Spotify user can listen to, and that attendees of Obama campaign rallies will inevitably hear. He essentially made Americans a mix tape, says Chris Richards in The Washington Post, "a collection of songs designed to make the recipient fall in love with the sender." Except, instead of a single romantic target, the president is wooing "a vast and varied electorate." So, what does the song selection tell us about the Obama-Biden 2012 strategy? Here, seven interpretations:

1. Obama's trying to hit all key demographics
Obama's "the first candidate to have waged a truly effective social media-based presidential campaign," says Devon Maloney in Spin. So it's no surprise he embraced Spotify, or that his eclectic mix "basically represents the president's entire constituency." The baby boomers get a little James Taylor, Gen X gets some U2 and REO Speedwagon, and "people with questionable taste everywhere" get ex-Hootie frontman Darius Rucker, says Nitasha Tiku in BetaBeat. The indie rock selections, from the likes of Arcade Fire, are "a blatant pander to twenty-somethings," adds David A. Graham in The Atlantic. And Wilco? "Dad-rockers are basically Obama's key demographic: Well-to-do, suburban, educated, and (probably) moderate Democrats politically."

SEE MORE: Obama's 'billion-dollar' campaign: Did the fundraising hype backfire?

2. The country tunes are a sop to white blue-collar voters
A whopping 25 percent of the playlist "unsurprisingly — and perhaps a bit panderingly" consists of country tunes, says Brian Braiker in The Guardian. The artists — Darius Rucker, Sugarland, Dierks Bentley, and the Zac Brown Band — are all "inoffensive roots-rockers loudly signaling the point: 'Obama is a patriot!'" The country picks "tend to be patriotic, small-town-America-celebrating songs," says The Atlantic's Graham. Clearly, "the president knows he needs to firm up his support among white working-class voters."

3. But where are the rap and hip hop?
Soul and R&B is the genre most highly represented, from Aretha Franklin and Al Green to newer singers like Raphael Saadiq. Glaringly absent? Hip hop, says L.V. Anderson in Slate. Obama's said he likes the Fugees, Jay-Z, Nas, and Lil Wayne, but depressingly, I guess "the sting of Fox's dog-whistle headline from last summer — 'Obama's Hip-Hop BBQ Didn't Create Jobs' — hasn't yet worn off." Whatever the political risk, says The Washington Post's Richards, surely at least "one rap song in this great nation... would have been suitable for the president's mix."

SEE MORE: Obama's super PAC flip-flop: 'Hypocrisy or necessity'?

4. And the Latino artists?
Less surprising omissions include metal and electronica, says Patricia Zengerle at Reuters. But "in a year when Hispanic voters are expected to play a huge and possibly decisive role in the election," where's the salsa and merengue? In 28 tracks there's "just one Latin artist — Puerto Rican-born Ricky Martin" — and he's singing a duet with Briton Joss Stone, on a song with a reggae beat.

5. And the women?
There are 19 songs with male lead singers, but only six songs that "center around a female singer," says The Atlantic's Graham. So, um, "the president is apparently not too concerned about losing the female vote, which he won 56-43 in 2008."

SEE MORE: Obama’s secret fundraising weapon: What is a Square card reader?

6. Obama's shifted from hope to rebound
"In 2008, Obama was promising to 'change the world,' and the music he used was an upbeat mix" including songs like Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)," say Margaret Talev and Kate Andersen Brower in Bloomberg News. Now, with persistently stubborn unemployment and partisan bickering at an all-time high, he's going for "songs that touch upon themes such as will, redemption, and comeback." This soundtrack is "less fresh-faced optimism and it's more pragmatic positioning of a politician who wants a second term," Billboard's Bill Werde tells Bloomberg News.

7. And so much for Made in America
Surprisingly for an American presidential campaign, "nearly a sixth of the choices on the list are by foreign bands," says The Atlantic's Graham. There's Montreal-based Arcade Fire, British acts Noah and the Whale, Electric Light Orchestra, and Florence and the Machine, and of course, Ireland's U2. Some might also "wonder why Barack endorses Spotify, a Swedish service, instead of a made-in-America offering like MOG," says Paul Miller in The Verge. Maybe he "needs the deep, obscure cuts that only Spotify can provide him."

SEE MORE: Can Obama win in 2012 by attacking Congress?

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Obama's birth control mandate: 4 ways it helps his campaign

The Right is accusing the president of trampling religious liberty. But Democratic voters may not see it that way

President Obama is taking flak from religious institutions and Republican presidential candidates over his decision to make employers, including Catholic universities and hospitals, cover contraception in their employees' health insurance plans. Hoping to avoid a backlash, White House aides are promising to look at ways to make the policy "more palatable" to religious-affiliated institutions. While many pundits claim this controversy will hurt Obama's re-election effort, others aren't so sure. Here, four reasons Obama's birth control mandate might actually help him secure a second term:

1. It exposes Mitt Romney to fresh flip-flopper charges
Romney, Obama's most likely Republican rival in the fall, has blasted Obama's plan as an "assault on religion." But that "wasn't exactly Flipper's position back in 2005," says John Aravosis at America Blog. Back then, a strongly pro-choice Romney was already "demanding that insurance companies cover contraceptives." Team Obama argues that "it's the ultimate hypocrisy that Mitt Romney is hitting the president for the same birth control policy he oversaw and protected as governor" of Massachusetts. A Public Policy Polling survey — commissioned, rather predictably, by Planned Parenthood — found that the issue is a net negative for Romney.

2. Republican candidates are infighting over the issue
Instead of focusing on Obama, Republicans are wounding each other over the contraception mandate. Rick Santorum has used the issue to "level one of his harshest attacks on Mitt Romney," says Jennifer Rubin at The Washington Post. According to Santorum, Romney "trounced on the fundamental right to religious freedom" with similar measures in Massachusetts. Romney's campaign accuses Santorum of twisting the facts. "We expect these attacks from President Obama and his liberal friends," a Romney spokeswoman said. "But from Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, it's a clear indication of desperation from their campaigns."

SEE MORE: Obama is the Reagan of 2012

3. It could help Obama win over women voters
Team Obama probably has good reason to believe that "any political damage will be limited" if the president says he's "on the side of women's rights," say Kathleen Hennessey and Christi Parsons at the Los Angeles Times. "The Susan G. Komen Foundation can attest to the volatility of family-planning politics," after the public outcry it faced over a plan to cut off funding to Planned Parenthood. "This is a country where voters, and particularly women voters, support affordable access to birth control," says Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster.

4. And many Catholics actually agree with Obama
While more than 150 Roman Catholic bishops have criticized Obama's birth control mandate, a recent Public Religion Research Institute study found that American Catholics themselves "overwhelmingly support the new rules," says Lauren Fox at U.S. News & World Report. In fact, six in 10 U.S. Catholics support the requirement, making it even more popular among Catholics than in the general population.

SEE MORE: Obama's super PAC flip-flop: 'Hypocrisy or necessity'?

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