![]() ![]() When most people think of what "donating to a political campaign" means, they probably think of the campaign committee. Once a politician officially declares his or her candidacy, that's when campaign committees come into play. After a candidate officially declares a presidential run, the function of his leadership PAC becomes largely obsolete. Rand Paul traveled to Guatemala in August to perform pro bono eye surgeries - a trip that netted him a fair amount of positive media coverage - his leadership PAC funded it. While pols can't use leadership PAC funds to directly campaign for themselves, they can use the money to build national recognition. Individuals can donate up to $5,000 a year to a leadership PAC, but the PAC's beneficiary cannot turn around and use that money on her own campaigns - at least, not directly. Before a politician announces a presidential run, she can set up a leadership PAC to start collecting money and laying the groundwork for an eventual campaign. THE CANDIDATE Leadership PACsĪ helpful way to think of leadership PACs is as proto-campaign funds. ![]() How much can one well-heeled philanthropist spend to influence the outcome of a presidential election over the course of a year? Below is our answer, and an exhaustive guide to all of the groups hoping to vacuum up donors' money over the next year and a half. ![]() Here, we break down that system to show the many ways individuals can donate - directly or indirectly - to benefit the presidential candidate of their choice. ![]() Even campaign finance lawyers we spoke with for this story - people who deal with these regulations every day - have disagreements about how exactly to interpret, well, anything. This type of smoke-and-mirror show is exactly why trying to understand how campaigns are financed can be so vexing. It's a labyrinthine system with seemingly ever-changing rules for disclosure, donation limits, and what qualifies as "independent expenditures."Ī super PAC set up solely to support one candidate would swear that, no, it has no specific interest in one candidate over the other. ![]()
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