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Koch Brothers, Allies Pledge $100 Million At Private Meeting To Beat Obama

by Aunt Sam 2/3/2012 - 9:30 pm

Huffington Post - A. Terkel/R. Grim begins report with:

WASHINGTON -- At a private three-day retreat in California last weekend, conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch and about 250 to 300 other individuals pledged approximately $100 million to defeat President Obama in the 2012 elections.

and report includes:

The source told The Huffington Post that they lamented the direction the conference has taken over the years. They said it used to be about "conservative strategy" and building a movement, but now it was mostly an "alpha male" spectacle focused on fundraising to beat Obama.

This is downright frightening.

Read the full article at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/03/koch-brothers-100-million-obama_n_1250828.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

now it was mostly an "alpha male" spectacle focused on fundraising to beat Obama.

A shameless promotion of one of my own blogs - The Fall of the Alpha Male

One of a number of blog fragments I have been toying with lately is that one of the reasons that Obama creates such vitriol from the Right is that he represents in many ways the alternative to the alpha male - which is not the rise of the beta or omega male.  It is the male who not only adopts the collaborative approach with the competitive approach, but has a proclivity towards the collaborative and non-confrontational.  If only on a subconscious level, guys and dudes like the Koch brothers are threatened by the rise of a role model like Obama. 

I don't have to tell anyone here that there are plenty of those on the Left who have had their serious frustrations with this Obama.  They have wanted him to match the aggressive conservatives and Republicans, an inside the beltway that is red in tooth and claw.

Given the amount of money that will be fueled into the SuperPACs - this will be a a red in tooth and claw election (Florida's Republican primary on national scale).  Carpet bombing like we have never seen before (and apparently quite constitutional).  The saving grace is that Obama showed in 2008 he can go toe to toe, letting his inner alpha male to emerge in his own way. 

I have a feeling the Republican/conservative attacks on Obama will comes across a brutal thuggery, while Obama will appear presidential, statesman-like, civilized.  A new kind of Alpha male, one that isn't quite an Alpha male.

And this is freaking the old boys network out.

by Another Trope 2/3/2012 - 10:12 pm

I agree with your analysis, but do you believe there is at least some amount of racism that is also responsible for the full court press?

by Aunt Sam 2/3/2012 - 10:32 pm (re: Another Trope)

Oh definitely.  But it will vary just as the alpha-ness would vary with each individual. 

by Another Trope 2/4/2012 - 2:34 am (re: Aunt Sam)
I watched a local PBS political pundant show tonight. The Republicans were expounding on the brilliant 3 part TV add attack that Romney's campaign did in Florida against Newt. There is a point of over saturation and they didn't seem to realize. There was a meeting in Tampa this week of field captains of the Democratic ground game that has been going on in Florida. The talking heads commented that for every 5 people the Republicans and Romney had on the ground the Democrats now had many times more. I think Obama will weather carpet bombing on the air waves with the ground the game they are building. I hope it is a 50 state strategy.
by trkingmomoe 2/4/2012 - 12:02 am

I never doubted Obama's campaign strategy or ground game.  Now, my faith in the masses of We, The People, is a bit shaky (based on history and current events. 

And this time, I fear the damage that will be done - not only to Obama, but our country.  Koch's, Romney and their ilk have no boundaries or conscience.  The power that citizens united have given the rich and richer really does frighten me.

by Aunt Sam 2/4/2012 - 12:30 am (re: trkingmomoe)
I just don't think money will save the day for the GOP. I had to watch Romney campaign for 2 weeks on my local nightly news. He is really bad at it. The other options had campaigns straight out of La La land. He just doesn't connected with his audience. The mood in this country right now is not positive towards the rich buying and owning Washington. The GOP was expecting a turn out of 2 million + in Florida's primary. It didn't come close. It was 250,000 less then 2008 which had been the record for a primary. All the money spent in the primary didn't create much enthusiasm.
by trkingmomoe 2/4/2012 - 5:15 am (re: Aunt Sam)

I agree with your assessment and am cautiously optimistic. I wonder if maybe this isn't actually a blessing in (deep) disguise. Maybe, just maybe, if after sinking all this money into the election if the Koch brothers et al. lose, they'll evaluate their return on investment and find it wanting. Maybe then they won't be inclined to spend so much money on following elections. (Yeah, I know, extremely wishful thinking.)

by Verified Atheist 2/4/2012 - 11:51 am (re: trkingmomoe)

There was an interesting analysis done about what this amount of money means to billionaires.  For those with worth in billions, a 10 million dollar donation is like $45 to the average household. 

by Aunt Sam 2/4/2012 - 12:55 pm (re: Verified Atheist)

I'm a numbers guy, so from a purely numbers perspective one can argue that for someone with a $500 million yearly income (as opposed to net worth), $900,000 is the same as $45 to someone with a $25,000 yearly income. For those same numbers, $10 million is like $500. That said, these numbers don't really scale the same, as the $10 million is different kind of investment than the $500 would be. Someone investing $500 is most likely doing so for largely altruistic reasons: they think this candidate will make the country better, although maybe only for people like them. Someone investing $10 million, however, is also expecting influence. That's why many large people corporations invest large amounts of sums in both the Republican and Democratic parties. How many average households donate to both major parties? Of course, this really undermines my wishful thinking, as they already know they're playing the odds.

by Verified Atheist 2/4/2012 - 1:19 pm (re: Aunt Sam)

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