(Newser)
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Super PACs aren't just reshaping the presidential race, they are also transforming congressional campaigns. And in those races, conservative interest groups are outspending their liberal rivals by a four-to-one margin, reports the Washington Post. So far, conservative groups have plowed $20 million into House and Senate races, and with spending more than double what it was at this point in 2008, observers say money will be more vital than ever in determining who controls the Congress next year.
Democrats are feeling "growing panic," says the Post, but increasingly, moderate Republicans are as well. Tea Party favorite Deb Fischer won the Republican nomination to be the Nebraska Senate candidate last week, thanks in part to a last-minute $250,000 media buy by a super PAC. And Dick Lugar lost the GOP Senate primary in Indiana after the conservative Club for Growth spent $2 million on his right-wing competitor. "We’re just getting started,” says a Club for Growth spokesman. “That’s our whole goal is to have an impact, to improve the gene pool in Congress.”
