Wondering what the fallout of the debt limit votes might be? You can check the FEC reports of new independent expenditures. The Senate Conservatives Fund spent more than $100,000 on new material for Matt Bevin, Mitch McConnell’s primary foe. The TeaParty.net Leadership fund spent around $12,000 against John Boehner. That’s about it.
Here’s how it contrasts with Republican-friendly spending in Florida’s open House race, pitting Democrat Alex Sink against Republican David Jolly.
Chamber of Commerce: $400,000 for TV against Sink.
American Crossroads: $49,840 for print against Sink.
American Action Network: $215,249.13 on direct mail against Sink.
NRCC: $379,425.68 on various media against Sink.
That’s a million in a week, a month before the election, for a candidate who says he’d have voted for the clean debt limit increase. There’s more money in trying to expand the GOP majority than there is in keeping it ideologically pure.