spending for any midterm in u.s. history. why are the big campaign bucks getting so much bigger? how will it change the next election? i m joined by msnbc news political editor, domenico mo h montenaro. i know people say, oh, whatever, every year it breaks a record, but this is beyond anything that was imaginable. thouno, this is beyond anyth we could have thought of. think about this, from 1990 to 2010, over 20 years just $25 million spent by outside groups. $25 million total. total. over 20 years. we have now outside groups have now eclipsed that combined by 16 million. that was before anybody even cast a vote. because this is through january, even before the texas primary started. so all of this, it s interesting, we have all of these different, amazing statistics you ve come up with the various ways, but we ve gone back, and you sit there and people say, well, money in
unique advertising attempts. fitness fanatic richard simmons helped out california s exchange. by the way, this was said to cost in excess of $1 million. and then there s the new social media campaign using so-called mom jeans to break through to young adults and their parents. or this message from the wildly mocked character who came to be known as pa jam ma boy. putting the jokes aside, while a lot of the specific ads were paid for by outside groups, washington has set aside money in just the first year. ebb bonnie williams is a trial attorney. if the law is so grand, why must we spend so much to make people love it? all right, megyn, these ads are really wrong. we know that there s a need to promote and advertise some
if we don t have a firm answer to that, who knows. there s ban lot of optimism, maybe pathways for permanent residency in some capacity. but before that question is even answered we go pack to the herman cain. is it a mote with the alligators? do we build a north korea/south korea border around mexico? what is it? sam stein, one would hope we have moved past the question of alligator-fillede eed moats buts a fair point that john stanton brought up that what s driving division over immigration reform is the base itself, which makes tackling it that much harder. john boehner came out and excoriated outside groups over the last spend iing fall if you will and seemed to maybe be putting those demons in a box. but this is very much the heart and soul of the republican party, this argument. yeah. and when i talk to republican aides on the hill and when you
deportations and whether or not the president can be trusted but not as much back and forth over the question of citizenship or quote, unquote, amnesty? well, legalization is a word that puts a lot of fear, shall we say, in the rank and file, specifically what you just mentioned about john stanton s piece. but before you vend get to the concept of legalization which the outside conservative groups will be up in arms about, the leadership has to sell border security. this is why you tched on something important. there s no timetable for immigration reform, no ticking clock they have to meet a deadline for. we ve seen when there s no firm deadline there s no real call to action. today greg walden said we ll probably see immigration reform at least in the piecemeal sense after the primaries for republicans, meaning they can t get flanked to the right. so, okay, that puts in around may. then we e get into the summer. then we re creeping up on november. what constitutes border security
reportedly getting ready to throw in the towel on taking back the house of representatives in 2014 and focus their energy instead on holding onto a thin majority in the senate. the fighting spirit on the heels of a botched health care rollout and weakened presidential poll numbers isn t exactly high. said one pelosi donor, unless we have a george washington bridge fiasco in the house, control is not going to change. but the main reason for the democratic retrenchment is actually the same reason for republican optimism money. senate republicans have reportedly spent over $17.2 million on tv ads this current election cycle, nearly twice as much as democrats. in five of the most competitive senate races, arkansas, iowa, louisiana, michigan, and new hampshire, republicans have outspent democrat base more than 3 to 1. but you can t have millions of dollars in campaign spending without outside groups. americans for prosperity has spent a staggering $22 million this election cycle alone on