That’s to say, the progressive super Pac Priorities USA Action won’t be supporting any Democratic candidates this election cycle. Buzzfeed’s Ruby Cramer has the exclusive:
The Democratic Party’s biggest super PAC, recently retooled as an early pro-Hillary Clinton effort, will sit out the midterm elections this year.
A spokesman with the group, Priorities USA Action, confirmed to BuzzFeed on Wednesday night that it would not be involved in House or Senate campaigns.
“House Majority PAC and Majority PAC are doing everything right and making a real difference. We fully support their efforts,” said the spokesman, Peter Kauffmann, referring to the main groups supporting Democratic congressional candidates.
Priorities USA Action, which operates under loose campaign finance rules that allow it to raise and spend unlimited sums, put $65 million behind Barack Obama in 2012.
Priorities USA Action had only one concern during the 2012 presidential election cycle: making sure Mitt never became president of the United States. And in that effort they were extraordinarily successful. After all, this was the same Democratic brain trust responsible for the distasteful campaign spot that essentially linked Mitt Romney’s business practices to the death of a former steel worker’s cancer-stricken wife. And startlingly, now that the PAC isn’t shelling out funds in 2014, expect them to have even more resources to sully and bring down the Republican nominee in 2016 -- whoever that may be.
But focusing exclusively on laying the groundwork for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign so early could be problematic, too. This is why Priorities USA is taking precautions and making sure they don’t infringe upon the fundraising efforts of Democrats ahead of this year's midterms:
Priorities USA will also take steps to ensure its Clinton fundraising operation doesn’t interfere with the party during the midterms, according to a Wall Street Journal report this week. The group, the article said, is discussing a system in which it asks donors to hold off on making larger contributions until after 2014.
Presumably this will incentivize progressive donors to open up their wallets now, but keep their bigger checks on the back-burner until after the midterms are over. That’s the goal anyway.
Hopefully, for their sake, the strategy doesn't backfire.