Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), in a last-ditch effort to save her dying presidential campaign, reversed her pledge not to take any PAC money when she began to rely on a super PAC, known as Persist PAC, in February. Recently, the fundraising data for the PAC has been released, and its donors are the exact types that Warren spent much of her campaign rallying against. She had made the corrupting influence of money in politics a centerpiece of her campaign, and while most of us can agree that it is the biggest problem in our system, as it is the issue that impacts all other issues, her accepting help from a super PAC, as well as the types of people who donated to it, prove that she is not the best messenger for this issue.
By a mile, the biggest donor to Persist PAC was Karla Jurvetson, a Democratic megadonor, who donated $14.6 million to the PAC. Jurvetson's donation accounted for all but under $5 million that was donated, while multi-millionaire philanthropist Barbara F. Lee gave $100,000 to the PAC. Additionally, it received $250,000 from another super PAC, Women Vote! This PAC, throughout this election cycle, has received $150,000 each from Dennis Eck, another big-money donor to Democratic candidates (although not to the extend of Jurvetson), and multi-millionaire investor and philanthropist Anne Hendricks Bass. Women Vote! also has taken $50,000 from Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer (COO) of Facebook, a company Warren has claimed she wants to break up.
Now knowing that Warren not only accepted the help of a super PAC, but also who donated to it, it is clear that her entire campaign message of fighting against corruption was all just for show. She could have bowed out of the race with integrity, practicing what she preached. Instead, she chose to show the progressive base, who she spend most of the campaign trying to appeal to, her true colors, and that she truly is, as she said herself, "just a player in the game."
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