Not that I feel sorry for them, but it's got to be frustrating to be one of those Republican mega-donors who spends millions of dollars on Super PACs like Karl Rove's only to see your chosen candidates lose election after election. But instead of getting discouraged about politics, apparently those donors have decided to
double down, steering their money away from the usual suspects like Karl Rove and instead creating their own shops or giving to political groups created by mega-donors like the Koch brothers:
Donors like Paul Singer, the billionaire Republican investor, have expanded their in-house political shops, building teams of loyal advisers and researchers to guide and coordinate their giving. And some of the biggest contributors to Republican outside groups in 2012 are now gravitating toward the more donor-centric political and philanthropic network overseen by Charles and David Koch, who have wooed them in part by promising more accountability over how money is spent.
Singer's operation is raising money for candidates they choose, instead of following recommendations from the RNC, and candidates are taking note:
Those candidates — Representative Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Dan Sullivan, a former Alaska attorney general — all appeared at a private meeting of Mr. Singer’s group in Aspen, Colo., on Friday and Saturday. So did Elise Stefanik, who is running for an upstate New York congressional seat and whom many of the donors regard as an up-and-comer who can help broaden the party’s appeal to women.
So after losing an election in 2012 in large part because Republicans were seen as out-of-touch clowns who say things behind closed doors like what Mitt Romney said on the 47 percent video, Republican mega-donors have decided that the solution is to pour more money into 2014 and demand even greater access to candidates and control over the process. What could possibly go wrong?