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(CNN Avlon) Sarah PAC "Somewhere Between A Business And A Racket"
RCP Video ^ | 3-30-2013

Posted on 03/31/2013 7:03:02 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: "....the Federal Election Commission filings for her PAC, the SarahPAC show is that the vast amount of the money raised and spent in the last election cycle was on consultants. It did not go to candidates.

In fact less than $300,000 went to candidates. She spent more on her top consultant than she did in all the candidates she doled out money to. ..... When people give money to these political action committees, they think they're getting political action. What they're really doing is feeding a whole subcategory of consulting industry out there, a partisan economy."

BLITZER: What were the consultants doing over there? What were they working for?

AVLON: ".....I thought the whole point of grassroots outreach is that you didn't need a consultant to tell you how to do it, especially from Sarah Palin's perspective. ..... . But the big picture, very little (INAUDIBLE) of the money -- millions that Sarah Palin raised through her SarahPAC ended up going to candidates. The vast majority of it went to consultants."

BLITZER: How much influence does she really have these days within the GOP?

AVLON: It's diminished. .... But there's no question, Sarah Palin is an influencer, especially in the conservative populous movement. She's very popular among the base. And now she's trying to present herself as this kingmaker, as you said. ...... So it's a reminder of a great quote by Eric Hoffer, which is all great movements begin as a cause, it become a business, and they end up as a racket, well, we're somewhere between business and racket right now.

(Watch the whole clip)

(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat; Politics
KEYWORDS: elections; palin; sarahpac; sarahpalin
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To: Sir Napsalot
"Avalon misses, not understanding that PACs are required to measure and assign value not only to all expenditures, but efforts “in-kind,” and anything that can legally be defined as “electioneering” must be reported as an expenditure. This is poor journalism at best, while we may suspect it as a malicious attempt to “punch up.” Avlon needs to do his homework before opining."

Attack on Palin and SarahPAC Misses the Mark

Robert Stacy McCain: Why John Avlon Hates Sarah Palin – Update: Ali Akbar: Avlon Needs to Do His Homework

21 posted on 03/31/2013 9:29:03 AM PDT by ScaniaBoy (Part of the Right Wing Research & Attack Machine)
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To: ScaniaBoy

Thanks, good find.

Both links are good stuff.


22 posted on 03/31/2013 9:45:36 AM PDT by Sir Napsalot (Pravda + Useful Idiots = CCCP; JournOList + Useful Idiots = DopeyChangey!)
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To: oincobx

You really ought to get out more. SarahPAC is limited to donating a maximum of $5000 per candidate per election, but those contributions are but a very small part of what a Palin endorsement does for a candidate.

We don’t contribute to SarahPAC because we want her to pass the money along to candidates. We contribute to SarahPAC because we appreciate the work that Sarah does and we know that SarahPAC does have expenses which support her works to renew our republic. When Sarah endorses a candidate, many of us will send the candidate a few dollars which we probably wouldn’t have sent had she not endorsed him/her.


23 posted on 03/31/2013 9:57:15 AM PDT by RefudiateObama2012
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To: All

Like clockwork, whenever Obama’s job approval ratings fall below 50% (46%) yesterday, the MSM goes into full Palin-attack mode to try to distract from the buffoon in the WH

It’s as dependable as the sunrise.


24 posted on 03/31/2013 10:06:22 AM PDT by Rodney Dangerfield ("I can see unhinged liberal media madness from my house!")
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To: Sir Napsalot

Hey John!

Is it bigger than the ACORN racket?


25 posted on 03/31/2013 10:08:59 AM PDT by G Larry (Which of Obama's policies do you think I'd support if he were white?)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

They sure spend a lot of air time and ink on someone so irrelevant! If you’re taking flake you must be over the target!


26 posted on 03/31/2013 11:04:20 AM PDT by JaguarXKE (Welcome to the new America.)
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To: oincobx
Six cents out of every dollar SarahPac received in the 2012 election cycle went to actual candidates. The better move is to give to candidates directly and not to the PACs.

Well, do that if it makes you feel better. As far as what SarahPAC is doing, results are all that matter, and they're uniformly excellent.

27 posted on 03/31/2013 11:16:35 AM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Sir Napsalot

Avlon’s problem is that he framed his premise on the notion that the money given to a PAC is supposed to go directly to candidates. It’s not - the purpose of the SaraPAC is to support good candidates, but more importantly, to promote and support good IDEAS!

I would view SarahPAC more as an NRA type organization promoting freedom and the constitution, as opposed to a funnel that channels money to candidates wholesale. It is not the RNC nor the DNC.


28 posted on 03/31/2013 11:20:59 AM PDT by meyer (When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)
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To: expat1000

Golly, the CNN lady in that video is dumber than a fence post. Dumber than a rotted-out fence post!


29 posted on 03/31/2013 11:26:48 AM PDT by meyer (When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)
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To: Windflier

“As far as what SarahPAC is doing, results are all that matter, and they’re uniformly excellent. “

Including her support for McLame??


30 posted on 03/31/2013 11:28:17 AM PDT by AuntB (Illegal immigration is simply more "share the wealth" socialism and a CRIME not a race!)
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To: Sir Napsalot

The net result of this article - $25 donated to SarahPAC! :)


31 posted on 03/31/2013 11:31:07 AM PDT by meyer (When people fear the government, you have Tyranny)
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To: Sir Napsalot

CNN should be shot down for a comment like that.


32 posted on 03/31/2013 11:41:23 AM PDT by The Wizard (Madam President is my President now and in the future)
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To: Sir Napsalot

this clown in an offensive asshole.


33 posted on 03/31/2013 11:42:16 AM PDT by The Wizard (Madam President is my President now and in the future)
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To: AuntB
Including her support for McLame??

As far as I'm aware, SarahPAC had nothing to do with that endorsement.

Had Palin not endorsed McCain in his re-election bid, she would have (rightfully) been judged as an ungrateful wretch for the rest of her days. As badly as it hurt her with some conservatives, it was the only logical choice she could make, and still remain viable in national politics.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Sarah repaid McCain in full and with interest, with her 2010 endorsement. She no longer owes that man the time of day, or even a return phone call.

34 posted on 03/31/2013 12:14:19 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: The Wizard
See post#21, there was some history of John Avlon dissing Sarah Palin.

However it is gross negligent on Avlon’s part to offer his opinion as such and Wolf Blitzer not exposing it.

But we both know CNN is not pretending to 'report'.

35 posted on 03/31/2013 12:32:05 PM PDT by Sir Napsalot (Pravda + Useful Idiots = CCCP; JournOList + Useful Idiots = DopeyChangey!)
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To: Windflier

“As far as I’m aware, SarahPAC had nothing to do with that endorsement. “


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2423951/posts

“Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s SarahPAC has donated money to the campaigns of Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Orrin Hatch of Utah, as well as to Republican Ohio Senate candidate Rob Portman, according to a Friday filing with the Federal Election Commission.......

It had already been widely reported that SarahPAC contributed to Senators John McCain and Lisa Murkowski. Former Governor Palin’s PAC recently had to reduce its donations to each those campaigns from $5,000 each to $4,800 each in order to qualify as a “multi-candidate” political action committee, but the technicality has now been satisfied:

_________________

“Sarah repaid McCain in full and with interest, with her 2010 endorsement. She no longer owes that man the time of day, or even a return phone call.”

Agreed! Let me know when she actually says she is opposed to anything the old fool does or supports.
I’m still hoping. And waiting.


36 posted on 03/31/2013 12:33:03 PM PDT by AuntB (Illegal immigration is simply more "share the wealth" socialism and a CRIME not a race!)
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To: Sir Napsalot

For a couple million a year, Sarah Palin on her own was more effective than Rove’s spending of hundreds of millions.

I’d say she delivered by far the most bang for the buck of any political contribution out there, and people are supposed to pay attention to this faux-moderate twerp complaining?


37 posted on 03/31/2013 1:02:18 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: AuntB

The top endorsement in America, the greatest force for conservatism since Reagan.

Palin gave us Cruz, she gave us our only senate seat pick up in 2012 when the rest of the GOP was going down in flames, and when we think of almost all the bright lights in the GOP, in the Senate, the Congress, the Governor houses, who dominate the news today, we think of Palin.


38 posted on 03/31/2013 1:34:43 PM PDT by ansel12 (The lefts most effective quote-I'm libertarian on social issues, but conservative on economics.)
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To: AuntB
Let me know when she actually says she is opposed to anything the old fool does or supports. I’m still hoping. And waiting.

If you pay attention to Palin's positions at all, then you already know that she stands in the opposite corner to McCain on a host of issues.

If you're waiting for her to come out and publicly denounce McCain by name for one of his positions, you might be waiting a while. She rarely takes a Republican politician to task by name, though she sure does rake their policies, agendas, and performance of their duties over the coals.

In that wise, she's not unlike many of the conservative politicians who draw admiration around here. In my view, they refrain from personally attacking Republicans because it only aids and abets our avowed enemies. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they say how they really feel.

39 posted on 03/31/2013 2:32:37 PM PDT by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: oincobx; RefudiateObama2012; Sir Napsalot
13 posted on 3/31/2013 10:00:51 AM by oincobx: “Six cents out of every dollar SarahPac received in the 2012 election cycle went to actual candidates. The better move is to give to candidates directly and not to the PACs.”

There's a lot of truth to that, and not just with regard to Sarah Palin.

If your goal is to help a candidate, give to the candidate.

If your goal is to help an organization because you believe in that organization's goals and think it is effectively accomplishing them, give to that organization.

Both types of giving are legitimate.

23 posted on 3/31/2013 11:57:15 AM by RefudiateObama2012: “You really ought to get out more. SarahPAC is limited to donating a maximum of $5000 per candidate per election, but those contributions are but a very small part of what a Palin endorsement does for a candidate. We don’t contribute to SarahPAC because we want her to pass the money along to candidates. We contribute to SarahPAC because we appreciate the work that Sarah does and we know that SarahPAC does have expenses which support her works to renew our republic. When Sarah endorses a candidate, many of us will send the candidate a few dollars which we probably wouldn’t have sent had she not endorsed him/her.”

This comment is exactly right. A Sarah Palin endorsement says candidate so-and-so is someone who shares values similar to her, and that gets other people to give money and support. I have no problem with that, though I have several problems with several of her endorsements. Frankly, I wish she had **MORE** consultants to give her better “on the ground” intel on what some of the people she is considering endorsing are doing.

Palin is trying, with some success, to create a counterweight against RINOs in the Republican Party. She's also trying to keep herself relevant in politics to preserve her own political options.

There's nothing wrong with that. Just be sure you know what you're doing before you mail the check.

40 posted on 04/01/2013 1:44:55 AM PDT by darrellmaurina
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