Tom Kiley, my pollster, turned up some findings that seemed crazy to me. For example, less than one quarter of the likely Republican primary voters believed that Barack Obama had been born in the United States. These were the voters who could help tip a Republican primary to an archconservative, but that conservative would have a hard time winning the state.
.. Using the guidance of my campaign staff and consultants, we came up with the idea for a “dog whistle” ad, a message that was pitched in such a way that it would be heard only by a certain group of people. I told my team we needed to put Akin’s uber-conservative bona fides in an ad—and then, using reverse psychology, tell voters not to vote for him. And we needed to run the hell out of that ad.
.. Sure enough, a radio ad calling Akin “too conservative” that went on the air in the closing days of the primary was paid for by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. We would later find out that their rural radio buy was $250,000.
.. As it turned out, we spent more money for Todd Akin in the last two weeks of the primary than he spent on his whole primary campaign.
Donald Trump Is Target of Conservative Ad Campaign
The Club for Growth now finds itself playing an unaccustomed role. For years, the group has battled with the Republican establishment, pouring millions of dollars into fierce campaigns against incumbent lawmakers deemed unreliable on economic issues. Now the group seems to be riding to the rescue, investing serious money against Mr. Trump at a time when his rivals have offered only YouTube videos and occasional barbs on the campaign trail.
.. Reed Galen, a Republican consultant who worked on John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, said it could take weeks to see any effect out of the ads, and noted that Mr. Trump had a knack for using free media — such as television appearances — to counterattack.
“The club has to spend $1 million,” Mr. Galen said. “Donald goes on ‘Today.’ ”
Why Fund-Raising Is Important, Even if You Are Trump
People don’t just hand over money to political candidates. They have to be asked. And that asking requires a campaign organization focused on finding, communicating with and cultivating supporters — whether those supporters are financial bundlers, other politicians or rank-and-file voters.
.. Mr. Trump often reminds people that he is leading in the polls. But as analysts often remind him, it is very early: Polls at this stage don’t reliably signal who eventually wins the nomination. Other more solid indicators at this stage include elite endorsements and a capacity to raise money.
Wall St. Policy Poses a Challenge for Presidential Candidates
Many of the most powerful investors are pensions and endowments that don’t pay capital gains taxes. For those that do pay taxes, Mr. Gale noted, the big and increasingly important private equity funds rarely engage in short-term trading, generally hold their investments for more than five years and would thus be unaffected by the proposed change.
.. Mrs. Clinton’s focus on so-called short-termism is unlikely to alienate most donors from the financial industry. Her policy suggestions pick up on proposals that have recently been made by overhaul-minded executives in the financial industry, including Warren E. Buffett and the chief executive of BlackRock, Laurence D. Fink, who have long bemoaned the fixation on quarterly financial results at the expense of long-term investment and growth.