American Crossroads

NEW YORK - A Republican-leaning independent group supporting Mitt Romney's presidential bid is spending $11.1 million on new television ads aimed at women. The ad campaign, set to begin Tuesday and run for a week in eight closely contested states, is part of a big push before the Nov. 6 election. Polls have shown President Obama with a wide lead over Romney among women, but some surveys suggest that gap has narrowed recently. The ad, "Sack It," shows a woman watching one of Obama's campaign commercials.

WASHINGTON - President Obama hauled in more than $68 million for his campaign and the Democratic Party during the final three months of 2011, a show of force that allows him to compete - for now at least - in the new reality of freewheeling outside political groups. The latest infusion of money, announced Thursday, adds up to more than $220 million in 2011 for the president's reelection campaign and the Democratic National Committee, putting Obama far ahead of Republican presidential candidates.

BOSTON - Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and his chief Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, have signed a pledge to curb political attack ads by outside groups in their Massachusetts Senate race. Under the terms of the deal, each campaign would agree to donate half the cost of any third-party ad to charity if that ad either supports their candidacy or attacks their opponent by name. At least one outside group that has targeted Warren immediately raised objections to the deal, while two outside groups that have targeted Brown said they were inclined to respect the deal, with one pledging to suspend its advertising.

If you watch a lot of TV - and, hey, who doesn't? - you may have noticed that your life has suddenly improved. You're no longer facing a ceaseless barrage of political ads sponsored by groups with innocuous-sounding names like Restore Our Future, American Crossroads, and Priorities USA Action. They're blessedly gone, as are the fat cats who helped bankroll the priciest election season in history. There's more good news: Most of them wasted their money on losers. To update Winston Churchill, never have so many expended so much for so little.

Elizabeth Warren said it better than Barack Obama. And the president's presentation wasn't helped when supporters of Mitt Romney edited his words. Sadly, lost in a squabble over "you didn't build that" was the opportunity for a more serious conversation about social contracts.   Last August, while contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate against Scott Brown, Warren offered a fiery defense of liberal economic theory at an event in Andover, Mass. Two minutes worth of what she said became a YouTube sensation that has now been viewed nearly a million times.

NEW YORK - Rick Santorum doesn't care about the unemployment rate. Newt Gingrich has "more baggage than the airlines. " Both are Washington insiders who have bent their principles for money and influence. So say Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his allies. That advertising playbook has helped make Romney his party's likely presidential nominee and could offer a preview of what awaits President Obama. Voters in early primary states have seen plenty of this ad strategy already: a torrent of attacks on Romney's opponents along with a few positive spots about the GOP front-runner's biography and business experience.

WASHINGTON - You can do a lot with a billion dollars - but still not change much. This Election Day, it's likely to produce another Republican-led House that's little different from the existing version. Candidates, both political parties, and hordes of corporate, labor, ideological, and other groups have spent a record $1.1 billion on House races since this campaign cycle began last year, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Yet by the time the last votes from Tuesday's election are counted, Democrats may pick up some districts but are widely expected to miss their goal of gaining the 25 additional seats they need to grab control of the chamber.

WASHINGTON - Two former White House aides launched a pair of independent groups Friday to defend President Obama and fight the array of conservative efforts that poured money into the last elections, adopting the same tactics condemned by Obama. The move by Bill Burton, a former Obama deputy press secretary, and Sean Sweeney, who was a top aide to former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, confirmed the sharp reversal by Democrats on the use of undisclosed political spending. Burton and Sweeney said they were moved to create the outside groups to fend off conservatives such as the billionaire Koch brothers and American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, independent groups cofounded by Karl Rove, former political adviser to President George W. Bush.

Now is not the time to surrender in the fight to preserve this country's campaign-finance laws. If Super PACs, the bottomless political money buckets of choice for corporations, wealthy individuals, and unions, are allowed to work hand in glove with a candidate's campaign, the 2012 political races will become a carnival of boundless influence peddling. American Crossroads, a political action committee affiliated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, has asked the weak-kneed Federal Election Commission if it can feature candidates in ads that reiterate that candidate's campaign messages.

Reacting to scrutiny of the more than $1 million it has accepted from federal contractors, a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney is now advising donors who do government work to seek legal advice before giving. In language added to its website this week, the Restore Our Future political action committee said: "Federal government contractors should consult counsel prior to making a contribution. " The new text appeared within days of an Inquirer report that the PAC had solicited donations from at least eight companies with federal contracts, despite a decades-old ban prohibiting such contractors from making political donations.

If you watch a lot of TV - and, hey, who doesn't? - you may have noticed that your life has suddenly improved. You're no longer facing a ceaseless barrage of political ads sponsored by groups with innocuous-sounding names like Restore Our Future, American Crossroads, and Priorities USA Action. They're blessedly gone, as are the fat cats who helped bankroll the priciest election season in history. There's more good news: Most of them wasted their money on losers. To update Winston Churchill, never have so many expended so much for so little.

WASHINGTON - You can do a lot with a billion dollars - but still not change much. This Election Day, it's likely to produce another Republican-led House that's little different from the existing version. Candidates, both political parties, and hordes of corporate, labor, ideological, and other groups have spent a record $1.1 billion on House races since this campaign cycle began last year, according to data compiled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. Yet by the time the last votes from Tuesday's election are counted, Democrats may pick up some districts but are widely expected to miss their goal of gaining the 25 additional seats they need to grab control of the chamber.

AFTER MONTHS of ignoring Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes - President Obama counting on them, Republican Mitt Romney seeming to write them off - suddenly both campaigns are all about the Keystone State. Clout hears that Romney may appear at a rally in southeastern Pennsylvania on Sunday afternoon, with Bucks County being the most likely locale. The trip was still being ironed out and may not be finalized until Friday. Romney's pick for the vice presidential post, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan , will campaign Saturday afternoon at the Harrisburg airport.

NEW YORK - A Republican-leaning independent group supporting Mitt Romney's presidential bid is spending $11.1 million on new television ads aimed at women. The ad campaign, set to begin Tuesday and run for a week in eight closely contested states, is part of a big push before the Nov. 6 election. Polls have shown President Obama with a wide lead over Romney among women, but some surveys suggest that gap has narrowed recently. The ad, "Sack It," shows a woman watching one of Obama's campaign commercials.

Democrat John Tierney might normally be a shoo-in for reelection in his deep-blue northeast Massachusetts district. But a well-funded outside group is trying to change that. The YG Action Fund, a super PAC funded almost entirely by Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, has unleashed an ad campaign this month attacking Tierney in starkly personal terms for his wife's legal troubles and his denials of wrongdoing. "What's the truth about John Tierney?" the ad's narrator asks.

Elizabeth Warren said it better than Barack Obama. And the president's presentation wasn't helped when supporters of Mitt Romney edited his words. Sadly, lost in a squabble over "you didn't build that" was the opportunity for a more serious conversation about social contracts.   Last August, while contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate against Scott Brown, Warren offered a fiery defense of liberal economic theory at an event in Andover, Mass. Two minutes worth of what she said became a YouTube sensation that has now been viewed nearly a million times.

Reacting to scrutiny of the more than $1 million it has accepted from federal contractors, a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney is now advising donors who do government work to seek legal advice before giving. In language added to its website this week, the Restore Our Future political action committee said: "Federal government contractors should consult counsel prior to making a contribution. " The new text appeared within days of an Inquirer report that the PAC had solicited donations from at least eight companies with federal contracts, despite a decades-old ban prohibiting such contractors from making political donations.

NEW YORK - Rick Santorum doesn't care about the unemployment rate. Newt Gingrich has "more baggage than the airlines. " Both are Washington insiders who have bent their principles for money and influence. So say Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his allies. That advertising playbook has helped make Romney his party's likely presidential nominee and could offer a preview of what awaits President Obama. Voters in early primary states have seen plenty of this ad strategy already: a torrent of attacks on Romney's opponents along with a few positive spots about the GOP front-runner's biography and business experience.

WASHINGTON - The most significant super political committees in this year's presidential campaign revealed the names of their wealthy donors Tuesday. The casino mogul who with his wife contributed $10 million to Newt Gingrich's group gave five times more than the group collected from all other sources. The new financial reports, which offered a detailed accounting of money collected and spent by super PACs, underscored how millionaires and billionaires are influencing the presidential election.

BOSTON - Republican U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and his chief Democratic rival, Elizabeth Warren, have signed a pledge to curb political attack ads by outside groups in their Massachusetts Senate race. Under the terms of the deal, each campaign would agree to donate half the cost of any third-party ad to charity if that ad either supports their candidacy or attacks their opponent by name. At least one outside group that has targeted Warren immediately raised objections to the deal, while two outside groups that have targeted Brown said they were inclined to respect the deal, with one pledging to suspend its advertising.