When is a super PAC no longer a super PAC but a campaign? Well, that's the multi-million dollar question. This election season in particular has seen a blurring of the boundaries between these nominally independent groups and the campaigns themselves, and no super PAC has been quite so obvious about it as Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership For You and For America — also known by its acronym, CARLY For America. You'll never guess which candidate it supports.
National Journal notes that Carly Fiorina's campaign has a small-to-nonexistent presence in early primary states. However, in lieu of her own campaign staffers or swag, Fiorina is benefiting greatly from CARLY stepping forward.
This differentiation between in-kind and independent expenditures can lead to some confusing optics. It was Fiorina's birthday on Sunday, and at a campaign stop in New Hampshire she was presented with a birthday cake. The cake was decorated not with her campaign's logo, but the super PAC's logo. At a Labor Day parade the next day, a video sent out by Fiorina's official Twitter account shows the candidate walking down the street, surrounded by supporters in CARLY T-shirts, waving CARLY signs. There was no visible campaign swag from Fiorina's presidential campaign, so a casual observer could reasonably assume that the paraphernalia was coming from the campaign itself. [National Journal]
National Journal notes that CARLY isn't the only super PAC behaving suspiciously like a campaign; Hillary Clinton and Rick Perry are also fortunate enough to have super PACs picking up some of their slack, too.
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