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Big GOP donors see small return on investment - CBS News

A study by the Sunlight Foundation found that just 1.29 percent of the nearly $104 million it spent in the general election ended with the desired result. In addition to spending $85 million to defeat Mr. Obama and $6.5 million to support Mitt Romney, the group spent millions more opposing Democratic Senate candidates Bill Nelson in Florida, Jon Tester in Montana, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, and Tim Kaine in Virginia - all of whom won. The only candidates it supported who won were Republicans Deb Fisher in Nebraska and Dean Heller in Nevada, who the group spent a combined $1.3 million to support.

The return for American Crossroads' sister group, Crossroads GPS, was not much better. Crossroads GPS, which keeps its donors secret, saw a 14 percent return on the $70 million it spent. Another conservative outside group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, saw just a 6.9 percent return on its $33 million in spending. The National Rifle Association's return on its nearly $12 million in spending: 0.81 percent.

The poor performance by Rove's groups had Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York mocking the longtime Republican strategist, who was hailed as "Bush's Brain" for helping engineer George W. Bush's 2000 and 2004 victories. "If Crossroads was the business and Karl Rove was the CEO, he'd be fired for getting a poor return for his investors," Schumer told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Thursday morning, according to Politico. He went on to speculate that Crossroads won't be "as much of a player two years from now" as a result.

Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod added on a conference call with reporters Thursday afternoon that the billionaires who donated to outside groups should be asking for a refund. He added that it was "heartening" that the presidency can't be bought.

Rove wasn't the only conservative who has to come to terms with the fact that the massive election spending on the right accounted for little more than a mini-stimulus package. Texas industrialist Harold Simmons, the New York Times reports, spent nearly $27 million backing Romney and GOP Senate candidates; Chicago Cubs owner Joe Ricketts spent $13 million on a super PAC attacking Mr. Obama; Texas homebuilder Bob Perry spent $21 million to defeat the president and Democratic Senate candidates in Florida and Virginia who ultimately triumphed. Mega-donor Sheldon Adelson spent more than $60 million to boost GOP candidates, though that's relative pocket change for the casino magnate worth more than $20 billion.

"[Republican outside groups] were so reliant on a very small number of people who funded this," said Bob Biersack, senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics. "So those people have to feel a little bit embarrassed. And it's not a common experience for them. They'll have to evaluate how they spent the money and what might be a better use of that kind of resource." For Rove and others seeking donations, he said, "it'll be a harder sell" in the future.