If you are looking for this weekend's hottest party, look no further than Park City, Utah, where Mitt Romney is meeting with all the bundlers who raised over $100,000 for his campaign. This weekend, they'll hatch plans for the rest of the election season and raise more money for the Republican nominee. Romney may not have George Clooney or Sarah Jessica Parker, but really, who needs them when you have GOP rock stars like Paul Ryan, John McCain, and Bill Kristol showing up? It's not all fun and games, despite the planned dinner, dancing, and golf. Woody Johnson-one of Romney's sports-team-owning friends-called the retreat "very, very important" for the campaign.
However, the Romney retreat is only a preamble to the blockbuster fundraiser that will happen at the end of the month. The Koch brothers are holding their annual convention in San Diego, and with the $250 million POLITICO's Kenneth Vogel estimates they've raised this election cycle, one of America's scariest political operations is inching closer to its astronomical $395 million spending goal for the 2012 election. The most terrifying thing about all this fundraising? We know the funds are there, but thanks to Federal Election Commission loopholes for nonprofits-where most of this money will be funneled-we have no idea where they will end up. Some will end up in super PACs supporting Romney-such as Restore Our Future, which raised about $5 million in May-but a considerable chunk is going to end up in senate and house races as well as smaller state and local races. Although Romney's posh affair and the money he raises this weekend will be the talk of the town, remember that the Republican bigwigs are aiming to take over all of government-not just the White House.
So They Say
"I think that we did a really good thing when we elected Barack Obama … He is absolutely and totally qualified for the job ... And I think-this is Morgan Freeman's personal thought-we're going to be in a lot of trouble if we don't re-elect him because people on the other side of the fence scare me."
-Morgan Freeman gives his two cents on the 2012 presidential election.
Daily Meme: Another Day, Another Poll
- A new Bloomberg poll has Obama up 53-40 over Romney with likely voters.
- Other recent polls have the race a lot closer.
- Dan Amira: "Bloomberg acknowledges that the poll's 'findings are at odds with other recent national surveys.'"
- Surprisingly, National Review also agrees we should take the new poll with a "grain of salt."
- Alec MacGillis asks, "How is it that Obama is not in truly serious trouble?"
- Well, as the Bloomberg poll shows, voters are still pretty divided about Romney.
- Mark Halperin writes, "If the Bloomberg poll is even close to accurate, with the President above 50 and with a big lead, it might be time to stop raising questions about the White House's strategy-and about Obama's chances."
- Ezra Klein says hold up! "The proper way to report this poll is not 'Obama Holds Wide Lead Over Romney.' It's that an outlier poll shows Obama with a wide lead, and it will be interesting to see if any subsequent polls reproduce its findings."
What We're Writing
- Jamelle Bouie points out that nothing is stopping journalists from covering more substantive issues.
- Robert Kuttner wonders how much longer it will take before Europe realizes that austerity isn't the solution to its economic problems.
What We're Reading
- Will Crossroads GPS ever be labeled as a super PAC?
- Nate Silver crunches the numbers, and it turns out there aren't many Hispanic voters in swing states.
- Reid Cherlin reminds the media that "if you get out on the road and see the candidates in action, their crowds are raucous and passionate, and you don't meet a single person who says this election doesn't matter."
- Amy Davidson looks into the weird fact that a presidential candidate has a horse competing in the Olympics.
- Jonathan Chait asks whether we respect the office of the presidency too much.
- Molly Ball argues that the "veepstakes is not merely a parlor game-it's an interaction between the public, the press, the political chattering class, and the candidate."
- Apparently Mitt Romney isn't too friendly to news website traffic.
- Mother Jones pretends that super PACs have taken over Game of Thrones, and make some attack ads for the fictional political players.
Poll of the Day
A new poll released today from Associated Press-GfK finds that more than three-fourths of Americans want Congress to pursue new healthcare legislation if the Supreme Court strikes down the Affordable Care Act. The number includes a strong majority of respondents from both parties, although it also found that 47 percent of the country opposes the ACA itself. Meanwhile, a new poll of legal insiders found that most predicted the Court will strike down at least the individual mandate provision of the law.
