Super PACs cast shadow over US primaries

DUBBED “super PACs” and flush with millions of dollars, outside groups backing and attacking Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich include a hotel magnate, a casino mogul and former partners at Romney’s private equity firm.

Political action committees are all over the airwaves in the early voting states, at times spending as much as the Republican presidential candidates themselves.

The names of these PACs — Winning Our Future and Restore Our Future, for example — do not give any clues to the average voter who is behind them. And though big money has always been a part of big elections, this year’s efforts are something new, a result of major court rulings easing spending limits by groups not directly linked to the candidates.

In many cases, donors’ names will remain a mystery for weeks. But some are known.

Last week, Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich PAC, received $5 million (€3.9m) from Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The group is expected to use the cash for TV advertisements in this month’s primary elections — $3.4m of it in South Carolina — as the former House speaker tries to overtake front-runner Romney in the race for the GOP nomination.

The group said it was planning to run a half-hour film assailing Romney’s tenure at the investment firm Bain Capital. Adelson is one of wealthiest people in America, and his huge contribution coincides with tough comments by Gingrich in support of Israel, a signature issue of Adelson’s. Gingrich in December said that Palestinians were an “invented” people, and he has warned about the consequences of Iran developing nuclear weapons, an important issue to Israel.

The film and expected ad purchases by Winning Our Future are the latest salvos in support of Gingrich, who was hammered by the pro-Romney group, Restore Our Future, with $3m in attack ads during the Iowa caucuses. That pro-Romney group is planning at least $2.3m in South Carolina.

It is a sign that ad spending among super PACs is ramping up dramatically. Some outside groups, such as GOP-leaning American Crossroads, are largely holding off spending until the general election.

The latest help for Gingrich is a timely boost for the candidate, whose campaign only months ago wasreportedly more than $1m in debt. The aid is largely thanks to Adelson, the head of the Las Vegas Sands leisure group.

Gingrich’s major campaign support by longtime allies is not unique. While a casino mogul has come to his aid, so have venture capitalists for their old boss, former Massachusetts Gov. Romney.

Restore Our Future, run by former Romney adviser Carl Forti, raised more than $12m during the first half of 2011.

Other super PACs, including the pro-Rick Perry Make Us Great Again, have also spent millions of dollars in Iowa and South Carolina this primary season. Even the Red, White and Blue Fund, supportive of Rick Santorum, has already spent $200,000 in South Carolina and is expected to spend even more.

Scores of contributors to all the groups will remain secret until January 31, when some of the super PACs are required to report their finances to the Federal Election Commission. That is after the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries — and the same day as Florida’s primary — essentially leaving voters in the dark about who might be influencing campaigns for the White House.