Could the Koch brothers be going from being the 8,000-pound gorilla of far-right political spending to a regular old 800-pound gorilla? The National Review reports a “realignment” that has the notorious billionaire brothers shifting money away from electoral politics:
Concerned about the damage being done to their corporate brand, increasingly bothered by their public vilification, and convinced after Republicans’ 2014 Senate takeover that even significant victories were having a negligible impact on federal policymaking, the Kochs began signaling to their closest allies that they were reevaluating their approach to politics. They had always believed that building the intellectual foundation for libertarian ideas in think tanks and universities — and supporting important public-policy initiatives at the state and local levels — paid greater long-term dividends than spending on elections. And more and more, they worried that campaigns could actually prove detrimental to their educational and advocacy work.
This has already had concrete effects, from millions of dollars in donations no longer flowing to organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, the NRA, and the Club for Growth to a major reduction in money slotted for political advertising:
Sources say the paid-media budget for all races this cycle is now $40 million, down from $130 million at the beginning of the year and $150 million a year ago. The sharp decrease owes largely to the fact that the Kochs are no longer planning to play in the presidential race. But it also reflects a steep decline in down-ballot spending from two years ago — an objective indication, sources say, of the shift underway.
Mind you, Koch money going to influence university teaching and research is scary. Koch money going to “important public-policy initiatives at the state and local levels” is scary. And an 800-pound electoral gorilla is still a damn big gorilla.
… the Kochs are still the biggest spender thus far on 2016 Senate races. Others emphasize that television advertising as a whole has become less effective, and say the network has expanded its footprint on the ground. According to Davis, Americans for Prosperity has upped the number of grassroots employees on its payroll to 400 from 125 in 2012.
In short, the Koch brothers are still one of the most dangerous forces in American politics. But it’s possible their influence on 2016 won’t be quite as huge as Democrats had feared.
