The Koch brothers have completely kicked off the rock that has been covering their slimy political activities for years, after plenty of effort by progressives to expose them. They're completely out in the open now, and are intensifying their efforts to keep the Senate bought.
For the first time, some political groups under the umbrella of the billionaire conservative donors Charles G. and David H. Koch are embracing direct endorsement of Senate candidates—a marked shift from the more generic, issue-oriented ads and outreach such nonprofit organizations typically employ to steer voters to chosen candidates. […]
One group, Concerned Veterans for America, began significant voter contact efforts this week on behalf of two Republicans in tough re-election fights: Senators Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania and Marco Rubio of Florida. Libre, another group funded by the Koch-aligned Freedom Partners in hopes of making inroads among Hispanic voters, is explicitly backing Mr. Rubio and Representative Joe Heck, the Republican running against Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, in the critical Nevada Senate race.
“We as an organization are worried about losing those champions in the Senate,” said Dan Caldwell, the vice president for policy at the veterans group, about why it is taking the “extraordinary step” of advocating expressly on behalf of Mr. Toomey and Mr. Rubio.
Koch groups have spent something like $42 million so far on ad blitzes behind these Republican candidates, though they'll tell you it isn't a partisan thing. They "say they have based their decisions on the merits and records of the candidates, not on their partisan affiliation," and point to the fact that they haven't jumped into the New Hampshire Senate race because they couldn't care less about protecting Kelly Ayotte. They are trying to keep the veneer of "nonpartisan" on their activities because they have to walk a relatively thin line here: these are supposed "social welfare" organizations.
Can you chip in $3 to each of these candidates to thwart the Koch brothers?
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These "nonprofit" arms of the Koch network have spent most of their money in issue ads that don't advocate for any of the specific candidates, and that's how they can now get away with direct action on behalf of Toomey, Rubio, Heck, et. al. It's not going to be spent on TV ads that will just be muted or ignored, it's going to be spent on the much more effective direct, door-to-door voter contact. The Kochs are desperately hoping that this will overcome the Trump factor.
Legally, all they have to worry about is not having the majority of their spending be on specific candidates. Since there's so much Koch money behind this, they can easily meet that threshold. What it ultimately means is even more dark money, from undisclosed donors, is going to be plowed into keeping the oligarchs' lackeys in office.