LOD: Who Pays the Banjo Picker?

An update from the Institute for Southern Studies asks, “What do Big Tobacco, insurance interests, and a D.C. group that’s spent millions to help Republicans draw political lines all have in common? In North Carolina, they’ve all put big money into a pair of super PACs that want to re-elect Justice Paul Newby and maintain the state Supreme Court’s 5-4 conservative majority. And many could have critical business before the state’s highest court in the coming months.” The Institute’s analysis, based on new campaign disclosure reports, describes the biggest donors paying for the corny, banjo stumping ad promoting Newby, but a large chunk of the money is filtered through intermediaries to make the true source more difficult to pinpoint. Investigative reporter Stuart Watson of Charlotte’s WCNC-TV amplifies the Institute’s research with additional information about the role of the Americans for Prosperity which is apparently using tax-deductible donations, at least in part, to support its pro-Newby mailer to one million voters. Other donations from the consumer finance industry and Eastern Band of Cherokees suggest that conservative legislative leaders are also involved in fundraising for this contest, which decides the make-up of the state Supreme Court that will rule on the legality of their redistricting plans.