[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by The Root Blog

Black Fraternities Form Obama Super PAC

Another factor making 2012 politically historic? It marks the first presidential election with super PACs. Given free rein by a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision, super PACs are independent committees allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support, or skewer, a political candidate.

They're already shaping the election. After a pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future, spent nearly $3 million on attack ads in Iowa targeting Newt Gingrich, his lead in the state swiftly plummeted. But a new pro-Obama super PAC, 1911 United, has a different strategy in mind: to mobilize an "army of Obama supporters."

Backed by members of Kappa Alpha Psi and Omega Psi Phi, historically black fraternities that both celebrated their centennials last year, 1911 United aims to raise $1.5 million toward training and organizing African-American voters in key battleground states to re-elect President Obama. Members of the two fraternities joined forces last year, officially forming the committee in December, after seeing that both organizations were running their own campaign volunteer-recruitment efforts at college homecoming events.

http://www.theroot.com/blogs/kappa-a...bama-super-pac