The well-armed 2016 White House contender will almost certainly have Twitter, technology, and a super-PAC to help guide the presidential campaign, says Karl Rove.
Writing for
The Wall Street Journal, the former deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush who helped organize the American Crossroads political action committee says that though each trend will be pervasive, none will be more important to a candidate than the super-PAC.
"[E]xperienced donors understand a well-run super-PAC is a vital way to supercharge their favorite candidate's effort," he writes. "In 2016, the super-PAC may spell the difference between victory and defeat."
Rove points out that having a super-PAC "and running it right" could also make all the difference in "amplifying a candidate's message."
Using examples of how lavishly super-PACs spent on media in 2012, Rove notes that during the primaries, Mitt Romney's campaign shelled out at least $24 million on media, roughly 23 percent of its spending.
"In the same period, his 'Restore Our Future' super-PAC spent $39.6 million (74 percent of its outlays) on media," Rove writes. "The pattern was the same for Mr. Romney's principal opponents. "
"The reason super-PACs spend more on media and less on everything else is because they don't need to do everything else," Rove explains.
But just having a super-PAC "is not the same as having a good one," he asserts.
Structure is everything, and a "well-organized super-PAC will put advocates for the candidate in charge, not consultants."
"It is also wise to hire someone with sharp political skills to oversee the work of PAC vendors," he notes, and "to help avoid scandals, the super-PAC should institute tight financial controls, have its actions reviewed and monitored by knowledgeable legal counsel, and undergo an audit afterward."
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