The DFL is in the midst of an extended campaign of sniveling about the amount of money in politics.
A look at this list of independent expenditures registered from the 10 Minnesota House races that flipped last election shows you why:
The DFL spent more. Sometimes a helluvva lot more. And it didn’t work.
Courtesy John Rouleau of the MN Jobs Coalition, via Twitter.
The candidate with the most indy spending in each race is color-flagged.
Of 10 races, DFL groups outspent GOP groups in eight of them, notching a little over 10% more independent spending. And that doesn’t even tell the whole story.
- Remember all the whining
Zach Dorholt didthe Twin Cities media did on Zach Dorhold’s behalf about big money in his district? His independent expenditures were 20% higher than Knoblach’s. - The GOP spent more on Peggy Bennet than the DFL wasted on Shannon Savick – by about $4,000. That speaks to what a terrible campaign Savick ran, and what a lousy term she had in office – and the power of the grass roots that turned out to bounce her. Don’t screw with the Second Amendment outstate!
- On the other hand – Erickson vs. Hancock (over 2:1 in favor of the DFLer) and Fritz vs. Daniel (almost 3:1 for the DFL?) Holy cow.
- Against that, the GOP indies only outspent the DFL in two of the flips; the Bennet/Savick race, as already noted, and a 15% margin in the Heintzelman/Ward race.
So no wonder the DFL is so concerned about rationing money in politics; theirs didn’t work. They need less competition.
Similar results nationally. Look at the 9 senate seats that flipped. I think we might have been out spent in at least 6 of them
Sometime liberal money works.
A) Look at polls for voter ID and traditional marriage in Minnesota from a while back
B) Look at how the left outspent the right by many times over (way many times over)
C) Look at what the final election results were.
Chuck:
On voter ID I think what sparked the defeat more than anything else was that the blacks were led to believe hey we’re being treated like non people and we won’t be able to vote in the future. That plus Obama getting a large turn out for the blacks the year it was on the ballot is what the primary cause of defeat was.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN
Mitch:
Thanks for the list. I know what group of Minnesota House members to try to give money first to as I work on getting my $50 rebate.
Walter Hanson
Minneapolis, MN