It's nearing that point in the election season when the influence of money is most obvious to rank-and-file voters. Look no further than the river of mud loosely camouflaged as political campaign ads you will see, hear and read in the next few weeks.
The Federal Election Commission's most recent information shows the two major political parties already have spent about $819 million nationwide on U.S. House ($504 million) and U.S. Senate ($315 million) races. Minnesota's share of that is $16.1 million on the Senate race and $9.55 million on House races.
And remember, that's just the spending disclosed by federal candidates. It does not include independent expenditures on those races (more on that shortly), nor any spending on races at the state, county, city or school-district levels.
Where is this money coming from?
Two key phrases provide good starting points about an ad's funds. They involve "I'm Candidate X and I approved this message" or "This is an independent expenditure not paid for by Candidate X." The former indicates it came from the candidate's war chest. The latter means it is a special-interest group. Period.
Red, blue or any color, the FEC defines "independent expenditures" as "spending by individual people, groups, political committees, corporations or unions expressly advocating the election or defeat of clearly identified federal candidates. These expenditures may not be made in concert or cooperation with or at the request or suggestion of a candidate, the candidate's campaign or a political party."
Sources worth reviewing to learn about the politicians, political parties and special interests providing this cash include:
• The FEC's campaign finance disclosure portal provides a single point of entry to federal campaign finance data at www.fec.gov/pindex.shtml.
