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Stock Market Crash Silences Right-wing 527's.
October 21, 2008 11:34 AM

In a decidedly devious twist of fate, it seems like there are more than just a few economic bodies strewn about the Wall Street landscape:

The recent collapse on Wall Street appears to have found another victim: the independent political groups aiming to make an impact on the 2008 elections.

Expected to be a force in the final weeks of the presidential race, outside groups and the pointed advertising they brought to the airwaves in recent campaigns are barely evident this year. Political operatives say the fact that many wealthy potential donors have shied away from investing in efforts such as the infamous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth is that they are simply too busy trying to salvage their own financial portfolios.

Isn't it interested how a few billionaires go crying home to mommy when their net worth shrinks 20-30%, going from - say - $5 billion all the way down to $3.5 billion:

"After the [GOP] convention, things looked good," said Phil Musser, a Republican fundraising consultant. "Major donors interested in issue advocacy were tuned in, political juices were flowing, polling looked good, and then, blammo! Most donors lost 20 or 30 percent of their net worth in eight days. With few exceptions, that pretty well shut down the money discussion for a lot of folks."

Sure, some fat cats lost real money:

Perhaps most notable among them was Adelson. As his company, Las Vegas Sands, struggled through steep September declines, Adelson saw $4 billion of his personal fortune evaporate as a result of the slumping national economy, and that was before the slow-motion stock market crash. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that between Aug. 29 and Oct. 1, Adelson suffered the steepest drop among those who lost $1 billion or more during the credit crisis.

But "evaporate?" This is more likely a situation where he feels poor since his $4 billion went down a few billion dollars.

Another example?

Freedom's Watch patron, New York financier Paul Singer, also stepped back his involvement. His firm, Elliott Associates, had minor exposure to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, leading to speculation among some Republican fundraisers that the economic crisis was to blame. Singer helped raise more than $1 million for Republicans in the current election cycle and was viewed as an important potential resource among those trying to find support for independent groups.

And yet he's still too busy to help slime Obama? Maybe his heart wasn't in it in the first place:

One Freedom's Watch adviser familiar with appeals to Singer said efforts to enlist his eleventh-hour support have gone unanswered. "Understandably," said the adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because discussions with donors are confidential. "The guy's got a business to worry about."

Steven Benen's got more over at The Washington Monthly...


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