Last night, Rachel Maddow argued that the respective trajectories of the Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns can be easily understood by examining who each candidate is attempting to woo. The GOP hopefuls are, to a man, attempting to convince billionaires to pony up money for their campaigns, whereas Hillary Clinton trying to win credibility with the left by associating herself with Senator Elizabeth Warren.
She pointed out that Jeb Bush's decision to outsource the majority of campaign fundraising to a single super PAC puts him in a difficult legal bind, since according to the letter of the law, candidates are not allowed to coordinate with a super PAC that supports him or her.
The Bush team, she said, has already decided to make Right to Rise -- the super PAC in question -- responsible for the majority of his campaign's advertising, be it on television or direct mail, as well as the data gathering, phone banking, and get out the vote initiatives.
With a look of disbelief on her face, Maddow noted "this is all going to be done by the super PAC without any direct coordination whatsoever between the official Bush campaign and the Bush super PAC" because any coordination would be illegal.
After noting that Koch brothers signaled on Monday that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker would the candidate they supported, Maddow argued that the character of the Republican nomination process had been revealed -- it was a race not only to curry favor with billionaires, but to have billionaires finance campaigns via organizations that are allowed to acquire and spend unlimited money.
The tenor of Hillary Clinton's campaign is much different, she said, noting that Clinton is not attempting to win over the "luxury polo barons of America," as evidenced by her hiring of Gary Gensler, "a thorn in the side of Wall Street" to be her chief financial officer.
Maddow also cited the Elizabeth Warren article Clinton penned for Time magazine's annual list of influential people. By contrast, she said, the person Time pegged to write about Charles and David Koch was Republican presidential hopeful Rand Paul.
Watch the entire segment below via "The Rachel Maddow Show."
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