Like massive pop-up stores that disappear once Halloween is over, several presidential contender-specific super PACs that played crucial roles through Election Day 2012 have all but vanished from national politics. With President Barack Obama re-elected and Republican challenger Mitt Romney vanquished, groups such as conservative Restore Our Future and liberal Priorities USA Action could have easily enshrined themselves in the political firmament by supporting 2014 midterm hopefuls or pressing issues such as guns or immigration. Instead, today they appear to have neither candidate nor cause, to be remembered only as one-hit wonders that — in stark contrast to party committees and candidate campaign machines — blink out of existence just as quickly as they once bolted to the forefront of post-Citizens United electioneering.
The Center for Public Integrity
