Do These Ted Cruz Videos Violate Super PAC Rules? Cruz Team Uploads Hours Of Awkward, Staged Family Videos To YouTube [Videos]
Ted Cruz is hoping to stop the Trump train by blocking the business mogul from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to win the GOP nomination before the convention.
With a significant loss in New York, it is not mathematically possible for Cruz to win the nomination outright on the first ballot. Instead, for Cruz to secure the Republican nomination, he must ensure that the convention is brokered and that second and third ballots will be required as delegates would be free to vote for whichever candidate they wish regardless of caucus or primary votes. However, in his bid to secure the GOP nomination, many have suggested that Cruz is turning to Super PACs to get the job done.
CNN reported in April of last year that GOP hopeful Ted Cruz was making waves in the presidential fundraising scene after he received unprecedented support from a network of four affiliated super PACs. The group of super PACs raised over $31 million, which would be used to support Cruz and discredit his opponents, all before the presidential race even heated up. The report called the super PACs successful fundraising a signal of a “new era of political fundraising.” It was noted that the group’s fundraising was unprecedented, the likes of which never seen in the political field before.
“The idea of not one, but multiple, affiliated super PACs ostensibly working together to haul in donations for the same presidential candidate is unprecedented.”
The super PACs would give “mega donors” more power as the groups biggest donors began voicing their opinion on how funds should be dispersed. While multiple mega donors may disagree on where funds should go, the ability for the super PAC conglomerate to split funds between four separate causes is beneficial.
“So rather than having internal arguments about it, they just established different super PACs,”
~ 1 of every 7 TV ads in the GOP primary has been aired by @tedcruz & his super PAC allies https://t.co/XlX5F0AKty pic.twitter.com/muI8zBADya
— Michael Beckel (@mjbeckel) March 5, 2016
The move, while seemingly counter-intuitive, gives the super PACs the ability to raise funds like never before as they can cater their techniques to the mega donor.
“A super PAC might go into a pitch and say here’s our plan to win: We’re going to tear down Bush. And a donor might say, ‘Nah, I’m not interested.’ But now, they walk in and they say, ‘We’re going to have data, we’re going to model the voters, do rallies, tear down Bush and build up Ted.’ And the donor says, ‘All right, I’m interested in that one, this one and that.'”
With the super PACs being such big players in the upcoming presidential election, it is no wonder that candidates want to work closely with the groups that have the most cash flow. However, thanks to a number of laws governing candidate interaction with super PACs, it is illegal for a candidate to coordinate with a super PAC. Despite the regulations, it appears that candidates are finding ways to circumvent the laws by dropping helpful information in places that the super PAC may find them. For example, GOP candidate Ted Cruz was called out after he dropped hours of staged family video, seemingly designed for campaign ads, on an old YouTube account.
Creeptown, USA – Pop. Ted Cruz’s family. Awkward Outtakes of the GOP’s new big man on top: https://t.co/YQ6dvUVspa pic.twitter.com/DODAGA6Qse
— Ian (@notianupton) February 2, 2016
In all, nearly 16 hours of videos were discovered on the account that super PACs could casually stumble upon and use for campaign ads. Many of the videos seemed awkward and staged with most of the videos remaining unedited to include the off-camera “coaches” telling Cruz and his family what to say. From staged prayers before dinner, video teams telling Cruz’s mother to hug him again, and Cruz staring blankly at the camera as his daughters lay in bed waiting for him to read them a book, the footage is somewhat cringe-worthy.
For those who have 16 hours on their hands and want to watch more of the staged Ted Cruz videos, you can watch all the footage here.
Despite the awkward nature of the videos themselves, the question remains, were they legal to upload in the first place? Were they placed on the previously unused YouTube channel with the express intent to provide super PACs with video footage, or did the Cruz team intend to use the unedited videos in another fashion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
[Image via Youtube]
