The emergence of super-PACs is a financial windfall for political professionals, including the media firms that Restore Our Future employs. It has paid more than $15.3 million to Mentzer Media to reserve television time to air ads. Most of the money goes to the stations, while Mentzer Media keeps a percentage that it and the campaign don't disclose.
McCarthy's company received more than $284,000 to create ads for the pro-Romney PAC. McCarthy is one of three members of Restore Our Future's board and worked on Romney's losing 2008 presidential campaign.
Wanted In Foxhole
While McCarthy has drawn criticism for his tough tactics, Republican political strategist Ed Rollins, in a 1996 book, included McCarthy on a list of "Guys I Want in the Foxhole with Me if I'm Ever Stupid Enough to Run Another Presidential Campaign."
Red, White and Blue Fund, the main super-PAC helping Santorum, also has ties to the Swift Boat campaign. It has given more than $1.6 million to Alexandria, Virginia-based SRCP Media Inc., to produce and air ads. The group created ads for the Swift Boat group in 2004.
"The monies being raised and spent by the super-PACs offer a new revenue stream for media consultants and media buyers," Anthony Corrado, a political scientist at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, said in an interview.