National Journal reports on an independent expenditure campaign in support of Sean Haugh, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate from North Carolina.
A Republican group connected to the billionaire Koch brothers is making a last-ditch effort to push the GOP Senate candidate in North Carolina across the finish line by urging young voters to get behind the marijuana-supporting libertarian in the race.
The American Future Fund, which is running the online ad campaign, touts third-party contender Sean Haugh as the only one in the Senate contest who supports legalizing marijuana and opposes war.
This is a change from the common perception that Libertarian candidates more strongly appeal to conservatives who might otherwise vote for the Republican.
Also interesting is the fact that the Koch brothers themselves are on record in support of legalizing marijuana. The Cato Institute, initially funded by Koch money, has produced a number of studies over the years on the benefits of ending the war on drugs. One such Cato study was responsible for convincing Judge James Gray that legalization was the best policy for dealing with drugs.
The National Journal reports includes a video of one commercial in support of Sean Haugh –http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/koch-allied-group-urges-young-voters-to-support-weed-candidate-20141021
IMO the fake ads should be seen as welcome help which will help a Libertarian candidate get more support, and more votes, some of which will hopefully also go to aditional LP candidates now and in the future. Furthermore, if it means more LP support will come out of voters who might otherwise have supported the Democrats as opposed to those who might otherwise have supported Republicans we will be able to use the exit poll results to add yet more evidence that we do NOT primarily hurt the Republicans vis a vis Democrats, and help us dispel that widespread myth. Hopefully we will be able to get some more of those pro-legalization, anti-war voters more actively involved as volunteers, donors and members of the LP and as future candidates themselves after this year’s election.
Ken Moellman has questioned the claim that Kochs have anything to do with it on FB:
Are people sure this is a Koch-related PAC? They also ran this ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MePZmyK96tI … I think it’s a Repub establishment PAC.
The national journal article goes on to say
AFF was once primarily funded by the billionaire Koch brothers. But a spokesman for Freedom Partners, which doles out funding to vaarious in the Koch network, said it has not given the group any money in the last two years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Future_Fund has this:
The American Future Fund is an Iowa based 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organization[3] affiliated with the Center to Protect Patient Rights,[4][5] which in turn has reported ties to billionaires Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch[6][7]
American Future Fund was founded by individuals who worked for Mitt Romney’s 2008 bid for the Republican U.S. Presidential nomination.[8] Nick Ryan, an adviser to Republican US Representative Jim Nussle, founded the organization in 2007, with Nicole Schlinger, a GOP leader in Iowa,[9] as its president. Its current president is Iowa Republican state Sen. Sandra Greiner.[10]
It sounds to me like maybe the Kochs funded it for some issue campaigns but that the group has its own separate agenda and/or has had a falling out with the Kochs.
In the words of someone or other, God has so ordained the universe so that even Satan is only able to act so as to advance God’s plans. Apparently we are being given a material example.
I suppose you could suggest that this is a proposal to separate the Democrat from some number of votes.
No. There is a vote retention test for ballot access in North Carolina, but it only applies to candidates for President and Governor, both of which are up in 2016. If the LP of NC meets the vote test for President or Governor, which I believe is 2% or 3% (it used to be 10%, but after years of lobbying and law suits, it was lowered to either 2% or 3%), then the LP will retain ballot access in North Carolina until 2020 (the vote test retention in North Carolina is good for two general elections).
Are there any ballot access hurdles that a decent showing in this race could put us over?