The Kochs are tired of just being told what they want to hear; they want to see action from their politicians.
The last few weeks have made it abundantly clear: the Koch brothers always expect something in return from the candidates they support.
Last week, Charles Koch told USA Today that if Republicans don’t vote the way they want, they should expect a primary:
Asked what he wants to hear from Republican contenders vying for his support, Koch said: “It’s not only what they say.”
“If they start saying things we think are beneficial overall and will change the trajectory of the country, then that would be good, but we have to believe also they’ll follow through on it, and by and large, candidates don’t do that.”
Also last week, POLITICO exposed how the Kochs secretly bought the 2014 Iowa Republican primary for Joni Ernst. The Kochs chose Ernst because she would put their self-enriching agenda ahead of Iowa.
In the bombshell report, Koch crony Jeff Crank, who heads up Aegis Strategic, makes it crystal clear that the Koch political machine is always looking for races where they can replace an incumbent with one of their puppets who will always vote on the side of the Kochs:
“I can’t stress enough — we do look for opportunities and we relish opportunities to find unprincipled incumbents who aren’t adhering to free market principles who could be challenged and who we could replace with a better vote,” said Crank
For candidates, support from the Kochs — which will total nearly $900 million this cycle — depends entirely on Republicans voting to protect the brothers’ interests — their bottom line.
Despite claiming they won’t play in the GOP primary, the recent coverage is a blatant smoke signal to presidential candidates as well as senate and house candidates of their expectations. In other words: vote the way we say, or face our network in your next election.
Paid for by American Bridge 21st Century Foundation