-By Elspeth Reeve
February 20, 2013- The massive amount of outside political spending unleashed by Citizens United did not, as feared, make it easier for rich people to buy an election. Instead, it showed that rich people are pretty dumb about politics. Take the billionaire businessmen Charles and David Koch who are spending their 2013 figuring out why they the money they spent in 2012 was such a waste. They have already fired most of their 100 staffers at Americans for Prosperity, and they're now conducting an audit.
Like American Crossroads and the Republican National Committee, the Koch brothers are trying to figure out why they couldn't beat President Obama — and several Democratic Senate candidates in red states. The Kochs have delayed their twice-a-year meetings with big conservative donors until they've finished their audit, Politico's Kenneth P. Vogel reports. The results of the audit will be presented at an April seminar, Vogel writes, adding, "Early indications suggest that they'll continue playing in politics but will tweak their approach to reflect 2012 lessons."
Earlier reports indicate they need a pretty significant tweak. BuzzFeed reported in September that GOP political people were annoyed by the how poorly outside money was being spent money in the most intense part of the campaign season:
The Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity has drawn particular grumbling for ads whose goal, critics say, is more about ideology than victory in November, its daily message determined, one rival SuperPAC operative jabbed, by "whatever the Koch brothers had for breakfast."
In August, while Mitt Romney was bashing Obama for easing welfare requirements, Americans for Prosperity was running ads about Solyndra.