David Koch
Over the past few election cycles, the Koch brothers have poured tens of millions of dollars into controlling our political process. In fact, by now
they've practically created their own political party, existing to support and steer the Republican Party:
The Koch network also has developed in-house expertise in polling, message-testing, fact-checking, advertising, media buying, dial groups and donor maintenance. Add mastery of election law, a corporate-minded aggressiveness and years of patient experimentation — plus seemingly limitless cash — and the Koch operation actually exceeds the RNC’s data operation in many important respects. [...]
The least-known vehicle for the Kochs is a for-profit company known as i360, started by a former adviser to John McCain’s presidential campaign after McCain lost to Barack Obama in 2008. Subsequently, it merged with a Koch-funded data nonprofit. The Koch-affiliated Freedom Partners, formed in late 2011, eventually became an investor, officials confirmed to POLITICO.
Spending more than $50 million in cash over the past four years, i360 links voter information with consumer data purchased from credit bureaus and other vendors. Information from social networks is blended in, along with any interaction the voter may have had with affiliated campaigns and advocacy groups. Then come estimated income, recent addresses, how often a person has voted, and even the brand of car they drive. Another i360 service slices and dices information about TV viewing to help campaigns target ads more precisely and cost efficiently.
It's not just data, of course. The Koch shadow party infrastructure extends not just to Americans for Prosperity's 550 staffers but to a Latino outreach group with 80 staffers across seven states, a young voter outreach group with 30 staffers in 10 states, and a veterans outreach group with 60 staffers in 14 states.
In short, Republican campaigns aren't backed by just one political party. Favored Republicans, or ones in states with a strong Koch presence, are bolstered by the resources of the Republican Party and the Koch shadow party. This is what Democrats are up against and this, not just television ads, is what we mean when we talk about money in politics.