There figures to be a lot of cash spent in the 2012 election cycle, above and beyond what the candidates themselves plan on spending. Four big political action committees favoring the Democratic Party combined to bank $19M in 2011, and that’s not even half of the $51M Karl Rove picked up for his PACs.
And that $51M is only about a sixth of Rove’s goal of $300M in advertising spending money.
According to a Politico report, $33M of Rove’s haul is going to Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, which does not have to report donors. The rest is going to American Crossroads.
The four Democratic groups include Priorities USA Action, Majority PAC, House Majority PAC, and American Bridge 21st Century.
Organized labor is also trying to balance the cash from conservative and Republican-oriented groups. According to Politico, AFL-CIO picked up $3.7M late in 2011 and hopes to spend $10M in 2012; and SEIU was sitting on over $10M at the end of 2011.
Of special interest to the broadcast community is Communications Workers of America, which entered the year with just under $4M to spend.
Of course, there are numerous other committees out there, including those committed to specific candidates that are taking an active roll in the Republican presidential primaries.
