Super PAC support raises the stakes

>> the president has released the sounds, a move to counter what has been a republican juggernaut. they wanted extremely wealthy contributors who want to open their checkbooks wide. here's bill burton who heads priorities usa.

>> i can report right now that we did not get any $50 million checks overnight as gredemocrats really awakened to the fact that how the election is being decided, then they will be able to come to the table and be a part of the conversation and participate with us.

>> i'm joined now by assistant managing editor at "time" magazine. and ben white . we won't know how much superpack has raised, but where is the money going to come from? who's the sheldone --

>> i think that the deep pockets could come from any number of places. we know the war chest is going to be huge, probably record. but to me, it's disturbing on both ends of the spectrum, the rise of the super- pac money is this huge.

>> it really did feel like the president was pushed to do this, the "new york times" reporting that potential donors met with supporters of the superpack, do you see the democrats getting fired up and really opening their checkbooks? i think they probably will eventually, i mean the problem for the obama campaign and this hands off relationship that it has with super-pac. i mean you had a couple of big checks. but a lot of folks said they weren't supporting this. the obama campaign basically made the decision that we cannot fight with two arms tied behind our back. we raised $4 million, we need to tell people on wall street , silicon valley , we need to get these brig checks.

>> there is this fascinating new study that richard louie has been looking at. including who's been pulling these purse strings on the republican side .

>> we were looking at a new u.s. perk demos.org study. democrats have been outraged by four to one so far, so if republican interest groups were to raise, let's say, $400 million at that ratio, that could dwarf opponents by 300 million. in the leadup to 2010 , up to eight million, that's money from nonprofits that do not need to disclose names of reporters. so far, though, only 6% of the pie is secret. for profit businesses, gave 17%, some pushed by their ceos. unions stuck their toe in as well. the service employees for instance. part of the 9% begin. super- pacs are giving to friends. 56%, 17 people gave over $1 million and only two of those donations going to democratic interests. these big done for -- as you're talking about, he gave millions to help newt gingrich . he kept rick santorum 's campaign alive. the problem, these oversized wallets, critics say, lead to oversized opinions. some big donors could be unleashed now that the president gave the nod to super pacs moneys. if you don't see the checks here u you 50u8 see the ads. 44% of them were paid for by interest groups so far. super- pacs becoming the kryptonite of the democracy.

>> about 175,000. he's somebody who has said he's disappointed with what he's seen from the president. you mentioned wall street , there's also a suggestion wall street might hold back from the president because they're concerned about him putting more regulations, wanting there to be more accountability on wall street . how worried is the white house about this?

>> it's a very, very tricky balance for obama to strike on this, he is trying to portray himself as the -- put that story line forward. on the other hand that has been a bias for him in the past so. it's very tricky and i think it's going to be a delicate issue for the democrats.

>> there's this big op-ed piece, saying how many billionaires does it take to buy an election, obviously newt gingrich doesn't have a problem with a $5 billion check, i think he would take a $25 billion check. is there a point at which you start to worry if you're the president, somebody who has spoken out about this kind of influence, is there a point where you say enough is enough in any individual or group?

>> elections are rarely won or lost, it's just a fact of politics that it's not a decisive issue in voters minds. and you get outspend, raise the money and have the firepower to fight fire with fire . he's going to continue to decry the influence of money and politics and saying he would have decided citizens united . this is what we have got, this is the reality we're faced with and he's going to tell every single millionaire he can possibly find to open their checkbook and write it. and he still may bash his checkbooks, he may send his dam pain manager to wall street to say look, we're not going to do this anymore, we're not going to say we don't like you, but they want the money and they're probably going to get at least some of it.

>> it's so fascinating to me that the playing field four years ago, he rewrote the book on it and then citizens united rewrote the book again.