According to Rodell Molineau, executive director
of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge in 2012, "The meta-lesson from
[the 2012] election cycle is that showing up and participating in the process
is key, which is something that we didn't do in 2010. I think a lot of
Democrats ceded the field on super PACs because most people in progressive
circles didn't believe in the Citizens United ruling."[1]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizen’s
United ruling on January 21, 2010 opened up unlimited corporate and
union spending on political campaigns. The fact is, sometimes you have to play
by rules you don’t agree with in order to compete. The obvious danger is that
one gets coopted by those rules in the process, even having a financial
disincentive to push for a repeal of the problematic ruling. In other words,
the ruling accrues the benefit of being the status quo and thus becomes
extremely difficult to dislodge.
The full essay is at "Citizens United."
1. Paul Blumenthal, “Democratic
Super PACs Trim Conservative Advantage in Congressional Races,” The
Huffington Post, November 10, 2012.
