Big return on small investment
by digby
The moneybags know exactly how valuable this is to them:
Outside interest groups spent at record levels in state-level judicial elections in the 2012 election cycle, according to a new report, reflecting a trend of increased spending on down-ballot races by political groups looking to control individual state agendas.
The report — put together by Justice At Stake, the Brennan Center for Justice and the National Institute for Money in State Politics — shows that independent groups spent $15.4 million on 2012 judicial elections, which helped drive a record $29.7 million in television advertising in those races. The spending by independent groups also represented a record 27 percent of all spending on judicial races.
Some of the big spenders in judicial elections in 2012 included recognizable names from national political movements, such as the billionaire Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity and the National Rifle Association’s Law Enforcement Alliance of America.
Alicia Bannon, counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy program, said that the increased spending, especially on television ads, has “created a carnival atmosphere where judges are starting to look indistinguishable from other sorts of politicians.”
This has been a long time interest of the right. They’ve been systematically taking over the judiciary for many years. Here’s a great story about how Karl Rove made his bones way back when by manipulating the Alabama judicial system in close elections.
If you look around the country (and particularly at the federal system) they’ve had a very nice return on their investment. And it’s likely going to reap even bigger rewards in the foreseeable future.
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