ICYMI: our article in Campaign & Elections on the future of PACs & advocacy

Published today in Campaigns & Elections "Campaign Insider"

Why hybrid PACs Matter

By Dan Backer, Principal Attorney of DB Capitol Strategies

Excerpted below, CLICK HERE for the full article

"The reigning narrative is of Super PACs dominating the 2012 elections. But elections are finite moments in time, before and after which the ongoing battle to shape policy continues. The story we may not hear until 2013 is the quiet emergence of Hybrid PACs as a tool of political operators who understand the difference between winning elections and winning policy.

Policy professionals know successful advocacy as a "3-legged stool" that requires three elements: (1) professional advocacy, (2) grassroots and grasstops advocacy, and (3) PAC money.

. . .

All three legs are essential to an effective lobbying strategy that achieves results. Bumping headlong into that dynamic of effective advocacy is the dichotomy of PACs.

Many practitioners still think of PACs in terms of "Connected PACs"-those affiliated and controlled by corporate, union, or association sponsors-and "Non-connected PACs," essentially grassroots organizations.

. . .

There is, however, a more practical division, often lost on lawyers, between policy-oriented PACs and electorally-oriented PACs.

. . .

Hybrid PACs offer the best of both worlds: Hard dollars to advance specific policy initiatives the way "traditional", pre-Carey PACs have long done, and soft dollars to underwrite operations, hire advocacy-oriented staff, and support grassroots and grasstops advocacy-the other legs of the three-legged stool.

. . .

Hybrid PACs are the next rung on the evolutionary ladder of advocacy; they aren't just a legal creation but a practical, operational tool. Sophisticated political operators will see and seize the opportunity."

For the full article, CLICK HERE to visit Campaigns & Elections Magazine

DB Capitol Strategies & Dan Backer, esq.

DB Capitol Strategies offers campaign finance & political law advisory to PACs, campaigns and candidates.

Our principal attorney, Dan Backer, is at the cutting edge of defending Free Speech and Association before the FEC. Most recently, Dan was lead counsel in the ground-breaking Carey v FEC case, which paved the way for Hybrid PACs by winning the right of any non-connected PAC to operate a "Carey Account" - in essence becoming SuperPACs.

Dan previously served as a legal policy analyst and subject matter expert in military and overseas voting for the Department of Defenses' Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP)

Dan earned his J.D. at George Mason University School of Law, a PAC Mgmt. Masters Certificate from George Washington, and a B.A. in Political Science from the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst. In 2009, Dan earned the American League of Lobbyists Professional Lobbying Certification (PLC).

We're Social in 2012!

Former NRSC

General Counsel

Stephen M. Hoersting* brings campaign & litigation leadership to DB Capitol Strategies

The rapidly changing campaign finance laws are already the dominant theme of 2012's "most-expensive-yet" election. DB Capitol Strategies is pleased to have Stephen Hoersting, an innovator at the cutting edge of campaign finance law, join our firm. Steve brings tremendous experience advising campaigns and advancing free-speech for political organizations to our team.

Steve co-founded the Center for Competitive Politics (2005 to 2011) where he devised speech-protective projects, including co-counsel on SpeechNow.org v. FEC and Carey v FEC. Steve served as general counsel to the National Republican Senatorial Committee under then-chairman Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) from 2003 to 2005, where he advised 51 Senate offices and 34 campaigns in the first election under McCain-Feingold to help win seven of eight open seat races for U.S. Senator.

Steve also served as chief counsel to a vice chairman of the Federal Election Commission from 2000 to 2003, was a pre-publication commenter on John Samples' The Fallacy of Campaign Finance Reform, University of Chicago Press (2006) and a commentator and research assistant for Bradley A. Smith's Unfree Speech, Princeton Univ. Press (2001). He has published on campaign finance issues for the Cato Institute, the Election Law Journal, The Washington Times, Roll Call, The Weekly Standard and National Review Online; appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, CNBC's Street Signs and offered expert testimony on Capitol Hill.

Steve earned his J.D. from Capital University Law School, cum laude, in 1996, and a B.A. in economics from The Ohio State University in 1990. He is an alumnus of the Institute for Humane Studies and served as The Federalist Society's Publications Chairman for its Free Speech and Election Law Practice Group.

Connect with Steve at SHoersting@DBCapitolStrategies.com

*This attorney is only licensed to practice in Ohio

We're Social in 2012!

This information is not intended as legal advice, which turns on specific facts. Seek specific legal advice before acting with regard to the subjects mentioned herein. For more information, visit our website at www.DBCapitolStrategies.com. �2012 DB Capitol Strategies PLLC, All rights reserved.