This is breaking news here:
Outside groups supporting Republican candidates in House and Senate races across the country have been swamping their Democratic-leaning counterparts on television since early August as the midterm election season has begun heating up.
Driving the disparity in the ad wars has been an array of Republican-oriented organizations that are set up so they can accept donations of unlimited size from individuals and corporations without having to disclose them. The situation raises the possibility that a relatively small cadre of deep-pocketed donors, unknown to the general public, is shaping the battle for Congress in the early going.
The yawning gap in spending by independent interest groups is alarming some Democratic officials, who argue that it amounts to an effort on the part of very wealthy Republican donors, as well as corporate interests, newly emboldened by regulatory changes, to buy the election.
“While each of our campaigns has the resources they need to be competitive, we now face shadow groups putting their thumbs on the scale with undisclosed, unlimited and unregulated donations,” said Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Attention, inattentive: Senator Menendez is talking to you! Forget about Moveon.org, Code Pink, AFSCME, ACORN and its affiliates, League of Conservation Voters, and any other gothic groups (that is, shadow groups, but Democratic, so they’re all epic, romantic, and cooler) putting money into races. Pay attention to the Vast Rightwing Conspiracy shadow puppets I’m making in the New York Times using the shining light of my intellect and political hack rhetoric!
