The Anschutz Connection

Shadowy special interest groups running attack ads against candidates is nothing new. Dark money as it’s sometimes called is special interest money. Groups like the First Amendment Alliance sounds positive, even cheerful, but all of them have an agenda one way or the other. Sunlight foundations records show that First Amendment Alliance for example, buys ads against Senator Bennet. Ads taking shots at him for his votes on the stimulus bill among other things. The group runs ads against pivotal senate races in Colorado along with other battle ground states.

Many readers who pay attention already know that Sen. Michael Bennet worked for the Anschutz Corp. before campaigning for office. In fact, Senator Bennet even talks about working for Anschutz while campaigning. He made millions for them while he was managing oil and gas contracts.  He also worked on Movie Theater contracts among other things. In return Phil Anschutz has made numerous contributions to Bennets’s opponents, helping to fund attack ads against him. 

Interestingly, executives, and family members associated with most of the Anschutz enterprises donated money to Bennett. Anschutz on the other hand, who owns AEG, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, which is just a subsidiary of the much larger Anschutz Company, and now famous for alleged involvement in Michael Jackson’s death. Phil Anschutz, a Colorado billionaire who is well known for bank rolling and embracing conservative causes is also a friend and former boss of Bennet’s. Funny that while Phil Anschutz backs Republican candidates, his companies back Bennet. Many of whom are upending established patterns of political contributions to back Bennet’s campaign.

As for the Anschutz empire. Phil Anschutz has consistently stayed out of the spotlight. He has amassed a large empire and the fortune that goes with it. He consistently donates to the conservative cause, and many conservative institutions. Causes including Colorado’s controversial anti-gay Amendment 2 campaign for example. He also supports the Discovery Institute in Seattle, which is a major player in the Intelligent Design movement. Other contributions included money for groups that support the protection of marriage and are against single parenting. Anschutz, in a Forbes magazine article listing the richest men in the world ranks 109 on the global stage, and 38^th in the United States, with a net worth of over 10 Billion dollars.

  

So what exactly is going on here? We have a Senator whose former boss is bankrolling against him. Meanwhile Anschutz’s executives are paying into Bennet’s campaign. As we follow the money the question arises, does the left hand not know what the right is doing? Or is Anschutz secretly supporting Bennet for reelection? Thanks to the shadowy world of special interest money, PACs, and philanthropist billionaires we may never know, but it certainly makes things interesting in Colorado