Cunningham wants Citizens United to pull Kennedy endorsement

Will Cunningham thinks evidence that Patrick J. Kennedy gave $500,000 to a dormant super PAC now spending money to boost the chances of his wife in New Jersey’s 2nd district Democratic primary, is enough for End Citizens United to pull their endorsement of Amy Kennedy.

“The efforts of Amy and her husband, Patrick Kennedy, to exploit campaign finance loopholes in order to self-fund a Super PAC could not be more antithetical to the notion of free, fair, and transparent elections as well as the essential missions of both End Citizen’s United and Let America Vote,” Cunningham said in a letter to both organizations on Friday morning.  “I am calling on End Citizen’s United and Let America Vote to rescind their endorsement of Amy Kennedy.”

From Cunningham’s perspective, this was a sort of bait-and-switch: promise the groups she wouldn’t take money from corporate PACs or federal lobbyists her husband was planning to fund a super PAC that was destitute without his money.

“Her view that it was acceptable to circumvent campaign finance regulations in order to fund her campaign with big-money contributions showcases a blatant disregard for the mission of reforming our electoral process,” Cunningham stated.

Cunningham is now on this issue like a dog with a bone.  That could be daunting for Kennedy: before running for Congress, Cunningham worked for Rep. Elijah Cummings as the chief investigator for the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

“As a society, we must fight to restore the electoral system to the everyday citizens it was built to protect by getting big money out of politics and promoting maximum political participation. End Citizen’s United and Let America Vote are shining examples of the activism and grassroots organizing that is needed to create systemic change,” Cunningham said.  “The actions of Amy Kennedy, however, showcase that her campaign no longer warrants the outright support of transformative organizations like End Citizen’s United and Let America Vote and I hope action is taken to rescind the endorsement of Mrs. Kennedy.”