PHOENIX -- Gabrielle Giffords' decision this week to help raise money to promote gun control could test the financial limits of her appeal by directly aligning her with an issue that has floundered in politics for decades.
In the months after she was shot in the head on Jan. 8, 2011, a wave -of support from sympathetic donors helped the then-congresswoman raise $1 million, nearly all of which was spent that year. A vaguely centrist political-action committee that bears her name scarcely made a ripple in 2012, raising less than $30,000 since its August debut.
Now Giffords and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, have created Americans for Responsible Solutions, an organization that includes a "super PAC" that can raise and spend unlimited funds for political messaging as long as it doesn't coordinate with others.
STORY: Texas lawyers give $1 million to gun control super PAC
The move underscores and tries to build on Giffords' status as perhaps the most visible face of the gun-control movement, which has gained renewed energy since a spate of mass shootings, including the murder last month of 20 elementary school students and six adults in Newtown, Conn.
Patrick Egan, an assistant politics professor at New York University, said Giffords will pay at least some political price for her activism, but she is well positioned to bring new resources to the issue, which has been dominated for years by gun rights groups that are far more organized and well-funded.
"It's clear she's spending political capital. Whenever anyone does that ... inevitably it's going to make them a less nonpartisan figure," he said. "You're not going to find a more sympathetic person for this cause than Gabrielle Giffords. She's a likable person and comes across as very reasonable."
Giffords' reputation as a moderate from the West also can help broaden the group's appeal, Egan said. Besides, a few wealthy benefactors can sustain it.
Underscoring that point was a report Wednesday by USA TODAY that a wealthy Texas lawyer who is treasurer of Americans for Responsible Solutions donated $1 million, and that online donations had reached $400,000 in a single day.
"I think the PAC will do all right financially. With a super PAC, you don't need a lot of people giving. You just need a few people giving a lot of money," said Clyde Wilcox, a government professor at Georgetown University who researches money in politics and public opinion. "But raising money and changing the framework of the debate is a different matter. In the long run, it takes a lot of money to drive public opinion."
Campaign-finance records show that outrage over the massacre near Tucson has had only a modest longer-term financial effect on Giffords' political aims.
The committee that funded Giffords' campaign activities raised $1 million from the time she was shot through the end of 2011. Nearly half of it came from PACs, as her supporters tried to keep her financially viable if she sought another term. Throughout the year she remained a member of Congress, her campaign committee stayed busy, spending more than $500,000 on operations. Most of that went to consultants and other salaries.
After Giffords resigned her seat in January 2012 and with no campaign to manage, her committee transferred more than $300,000 to the national and state Democratic Party in 2012. It also refunded $130,000 to individuals and PACs last year.
In August, Giffords formed Gabby PAC, an organization to support border and veterans' issues. Records show it raised less than $30,000 and spent less than $15,000 during the election season. Giffords' candidate committee still has $333,000, though it's unclear whether that money can be transferred to her newest endeavor.
Generally, the Federal Election Commission prohibits campaign funds from going to organizations that benefit the candidate or their family. Last year the FEC permitted Texas Gov. Rick Perry to convert his presidential committee to a PAC and use any funds the donors didn't want back. Records show Giffords created a new super PAC rather than amend her existing candidate committee.
Before Giffords, the gun control movement's most powerful symbol had been James Brady, President Ronald Reagan's press secretary, who was among those wounded in a 1981 assassination attempt against Reagan.
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the gun control organization that bears his name, is linked to legislation passed in the 1990s but hasn't managed to compete with gun-rights groups in political contributions.
The decline in the gun control movement is reflected in the Brady Campaign's flagging fundraising. In 2005, the organization reported $5.7 million in revenue, according to its tax records. By 2010, that had fallen to $2.9 million.
By comparison, the National Rifle Association, the most well-known gun rights group, raised $164 million in 2005 and, though sliding in recent years, still grew to $227 million by 2010. Its related political arm has poured millions into congressional races each campaign cycle.
Ray La Raja, an associate political science professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst who studies interest groups, said the creation of a super PAC rather than a push for legislation signals a long range plan that is a departure from other gun control efforts.
"She wants to make this a part of her legacy," he said.
Egan said Giffords' group may have its biggest impact by providing financial support in select races involving moderates from either party who support gun control measures and face reprisals from gun rights groups.
"If they can help those kinds of candidates — and it may just be a handful — survive strong electoral challenges, then I think it can declare a victory," he said.
By early Wednesday, Giffords' organization claimed to have nearly 24,000 supporters on Facebook.
Source: http://www.news.theusalinks.com/2013/01/09/giffords-gun-control-pac-to-test-her-political-appeal/
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