[EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/11

[Michael McDonald]

Rachel Maddow had a segment about Americans Elect last night where she claimed -– tongue in cheek –- that the organization is a front for Jeb Bush to be used if Ron Paul or an equivalent gets the Republican nomination. Her "evidence" is that someone is poll testing Jeb Bush v Obama in New Hampshire. (That in itself is a curious waste of money.) If Americans Elect released their donors, such conspiracy theories would not hold water -– unless they are true, of course.

============
Dr. Michael P. McDonald
Associate Professor, George Mason University
Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution

                             Mailing address:
(o) 703-993-4191             George Mason University
(f) 703-993-1399             Dept. of Public and International Affairs
mmcdon at gmu.edu               4400 University Drive - 3F4
http://elections.gmu.edu     Fairfax, VA 22030-4444

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of JBoppjr at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2011 3:13 PM
To: rhasen at LAW.UCI.EDU; law-election at uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] ELB News and Commentary 12/20/11

I agree with Rick on this, only because they are so so irrelevant.  Jim Bopp
 
The LA Times offers this report. A snippet about the group’s refusal to disclose its donors: “Sragow said some donors prefer anonymity because they fear retribution for trying to ‘open the doors to the political process.’” As I’ve explained, the retribution argument used by Americans Elect is laughable.
 
In a message dated 12/20/2011 11:56:23 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, rhasen at law.uci.edu writes:
“69% Say Photo ID Voting Laws Are Not Discriminatory” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:47 am by Rick Hasen 
New Rasmussen poll.

Posted in election administration, voter id | Comments Off 
“Americans Elect wins third-party spot on California ballot” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:44 am by Rick Hasen 
The LA Times offers this report.  A snippet about the group’s refusal to disclose its donors: “Sragow said some donors prefer anonymity because they fear retribution for trying to ‘open the doors to the political process.’”  As I’ve explained, the retribution argument used by Americans Elect is laughable.

Posted in campaign finance, third parties | Comments Off 
“FEC Republicans’ Statement on Merkley Ads Highlights Unanimous Vote on Coordination” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:41 am by Rick Hasen 
BNA: “The Federal Election Commission’s three Republican commissioners have released a new statement on a two-year-old enforcement case regarding political advertising that featured Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)….Though the Merkley case itself is history, the new statement about it highlights a key issue that the FEC continues to grapple with: the circumstances in which political ads are considered independent of a candidate’s campaign. The FEC commissioners deadlocked along party lines on the same issue in a vote at the commission’s Dec. 1 meeting. The vote came on an advisory opinion (AO 2011-23) requested by American Crossroads (3152 Money & Politics Report, 12/2/11).”

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Romney: ‘Get rid of these super PACs’” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:38 am by Rick Hasen 
I’d love to know more from Mitt Romney as to how he’d like to “get rid” of Super-PACs.  Does anyone know if he has any position papers or statements on campaign finance reform?
UPDATE:  Here‘s a 94 video with Romney showing strong support for campaign finance reform.  He advocates campaign spending limits, and wants to abolish PACs.
But his position today is unclear.

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Gableman voted with law firm after receiving free legal services; He cast key vote in collective bargaining case” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:29 am by Rick Hasen 
The hits just keep on coming at the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Posted in conflict of interest laws, ethics investigations | Comments Off 
“R.I. Rep. Cicilline gets help in contentious redistricting battle” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:26 am by Rick Hasen 
The Fix reports.

Posted in redistricting | Comments Off 
“Lobbying Your True Love: The True Cost of Twelve Days of Christmas, 2011 Edition” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:26 am by Rick Hasen 
The Open Secrets Blog reports.

Posted in election law "humor", lobbying | Comments Off 
“Iowa GOP worried by hacker threat to caucus vote” 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:17 am by Rick Hasen 
AP reports.

Posted in voting technology | Comments Off 
“Avoiding the Florida Nightmare in 2012″ 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:15 am by Rick Hasen 
Sundeep Iyer and Lawrence Norden have written this Roll Call oped. It concludes: “The Help America Vote Act was an important opening salvo in the effort to prevent lost votes. But now is not the time to be complacent about that accomplishment. We must be cognizant of how recent voting changes might lead to lost votes, and we must take all feasible steps to ensure that every vote counts in 2012.”

Posted in voting technology | Comments Off 
Why Tuesday? Talks To Republican Candidates in Iowa 
Posted on December 20, 2011 8:13 am by Rick Hasen 
Jacob Soboroff: “Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum don’t know why we vote on Tuesday. Mitt Romney thinks good candidates will increase voter turnout. And Michele Bachmann stands on an apple box when speaking at the podium. Those are a few things I learned after three days on the ground in Iowa, home of our first-in-the-nation Iowa Caucuses.”

Posted in voting | Comments Off 
“The Texas Redistricting Case and the Likely Continued Erosion of the Section 5 Process” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 3:24 pm by Rick Hasen 
Mike Pitts offers some insightful analysis.

Posted in Supreme Court, Voting Rights Act | Comments Off 
“>From Citizenship to Voting: Improving Registration for New Americans” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 3:23 pm by Rick Hasen 
New Demos publication.

Posted in voter registration | Comments Off 
“Wager on Elections? You Bet” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 2:23 pm by Rick Hasen 
Politico reports.

Posted in campaigns | Comments Off 
If You Wanted to Draft a Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United, What Would It Look Like? 
Posted on December 19, 2011 2:00 pm by Rick Hasen 
12 questions.

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“Judge refuses to dismiss charges against White” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 1:59 pm by Rick Hasen 
AP: “A judge on Monday denied Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s bid to avoid a trial on voter fraud and other criminal charges that could lead to his removal from office.”

Posted in SOS White | Comments Off 
“Walker says lawsuit will protect integrity of recall process” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 1:56 pm by Rick Hasen 
The latest from Wisconsin.

Posted in direct democracy, recall elections | Comments Off 
Will President Obama Make A Recess Appointment of Cordray (and Others?) After All? 
Posted on December 19, 2011 1:55 pm by Rick Hasen 
It may happen.  Maybe some judges in there too?  So what’s the downside for President Obama?  More partisan divide in the Senate?

Posted in legislation and legislatures | Comments Off 
“Candidate Venture Capital” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 12:54 pm by Rick Hasen 
Tom Donnelly has posted this draft on SSRN (University of Cincinnati Law Review).  Here is the abstract:
Candidate venture capital contributions are large donations given to candidates near the beginning of campaigns in order to provide them with sufficient resources to test their ideas in the campaign marketplace. These contributions can take the form of either large private donations or public grants. Although election law scholars and political scientists disagree a great deal over the aggregate effects of money in politics (and the utility of various reform proposals), they generally agree that early money is particularly valuable to political newcomers — especially when challenging incumbents. While both campaign finance reformers and anti-reformers often pay lip service to the value of early campaign cash, both sides usually offer prescriptions that deal with campaign contributions in an undifferentiated manner. This Article offers a different approach, focusing exclusively on how our campaign finance system might be altered to promote the value of early campaign cash in its own right. Rather than seeking undifferentiated contribution limits (like the typical reformer) or the complete deregulation of private contributions (like the typical anti-reformer), this Article suggests that policymakers might instead tailor campaign finance regulations to reflect the changing value of campaign cash over the course of the typical election cycle. Central to such an approach is a campaign finance system that increases the overall flow of candidate venture capital. In the end, this Article is an attempt to place the element of time at the center of the debate over campaign finance.

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“What are the people behind Americans Elect thinking?” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 12:52 pm by Rick Hasen 
Sandy Levinson blogs.

Posted in third parties | Comments Off 
“Gingrich’s sale of mailing list unlawful, watchdog group charges” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 12:20 pm by Rick Hasen 
WaPo reports.

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
What Can the EAC Do Without a Quorum of Commisioners? 
Posted on December 19, 2011 12:17 pm by Rick Hasen 
The EAC blog explains.

Posted in election administration, Election Assistance Commission | Comments Off 
“Super PACs: How We Got Here, Where We Need to Go” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 12:16 pm by Rick Hasen 
A Trevor Potter speech.

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
“A Partisan Lightning Rod is Undeterred” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 10:00 am by Rick Hasen 
NYT must-read interview with AG Eric Holder, just before his voting right speech at the LBJ library.

Posted in Department of Justice | Comments Off 
“RNC Moves Voter Data Outside to Compete With Democrats” 
Posted on December 19, 2011 9:47 am by Rick Hasen 
ClickZ reports (via Bob Biersack).

Posted in campaign finance | Comments Off 
-- 
Rick Hasen
Professor of Law and Political Science
UC Irvine School of Law
401 E. Peltason Dr., Suite 1000
Irvine, CA 92697-8000
949.824.3072 - office
949.824.0495 - fax
rhasen at law.uci.edu
http://law.uci.edu/faculty/page1_r_hasen.html
http://electionlawblog.org


_______________________________________________
Law-election mailing list
Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election