Los Angeles Times: Biden surged without much cash — but now it’s pouring in

The view Wednesday night from the impeccably landscaped backyard of Sherry Lansing’s estate in Bel-Air, with its enormous pool and towering birds of paradise, suggested the old order of financing campaigns was fast reemerging in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Scores of well-to-do Angelenos shelled out $2,800 each for the privilege of
getting a photo with Joe Biden. They caught glimpses of Leonardo DiCaprio and mega-millionaire financier Richard C. Blum, and hung on every word as Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Blum’s wife, patched in from Washington to fete the former vice president.

Soon after, Biden would be boasting that his campaign had raised $22 million in less than a week.

The scene at the home of the former Paramount Studios chief, though, hardly captured the reality on the ground in this race. This primary campaign upended virtually all of the old axioms about how money
— and proximity to it — influences races.

Biden dominated Super Tuesday despite not spending a dollar — or even showing up — in some of the big states he won handily. …

By this point in 2016, when the field of candidates jockeying in the GOP presidential primary was almost as crowded as it was this year on the Democratic side, super PACs and other independent groups had plowed more than $200 million into the race. That’s more than triple the outside spending in this cycle, according to End Citizens United.

“Are we disappointed super PACs have forced their way inside this primary? Obviously,” said Muller. “But even how long we were able to hold off super PACs in this race has made a substantial difference.”

Others are less impressed. Paul Ryan, vice president for policy and litigation at Common Cause, said he saw the vows by candidates at the start of the race to disavow big money as more about messaging than substance.

“This is where we have been at in every cycle since super PACs were born,” he said. “I was skeptical of the promises at the outset. I thought whoever the Democratic nominee is will be supported by huge outside money.”

Even Sanders is getting help from outside groups. The super PAC affiliated with the National Nurses United union spent heavily on his behalf in 2016 and may do so again. And Common Cause has filed a federal complaint against the nonprofit Sanders helped found, Our Revolution, charging it with violating existing laws — weak as they are — requiring disclosure of donor identities and spending related to helping a candidate. The allegations are languishing at the Federal Election Commission, where vacancies on the board have left the agency for months without the quorum needed to act.