Quick personnel note: tomorrow will be my last day at the office until January. Public Campaign offers a generous sabbatical after a certain term of employment and mine begins Monday. Our fantastic Research Associate Kurt Walters will handle clips while I'm away--so feel free to send any stories to him at kwalters@publicampaign.org (and make sure to check your spam filters next week!).

Yesterday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) said that a motivating factor in her decision to run for leader again was to change "the role of money in politics." She said, "Our founders had in mind a government of the many, not a government of the money. You’ve heard me say that over and over again."

Here's a statement from David Donnelly on her comments: "We applaud Nancy Pelosi's commitment to address one of the biggest obstacles to restoring the people's faith in elections and in Congress. Reforming election laws is hard, but Leader Pelosi is tough, and we'll need her leadership."

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
The Uptake: Mr. Nolan goes to Washington with BWCA, Citizens United on mind
Minnesota Congressman-elect Rick Nolan: "Asked about his goals at this time, Nolan responded that the primary goal is to 'change the way we do politics.' Nolan says he doesn’t like the way the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling has allowed so much money and so many negative ads to play such a big role in politics."

NYT: Is the Voting Rights Act doomed?
Nathan Persily: "The unprecedented flexing of racial minorities’ political muscle on Nov. 6 does make it clear how much times have changed. But a campaign marred by charges of voter suppression and Election Day mishaps also makes the need for federal protection of voting rights clearer than ever." Linda Greenhouse hits VRA challenge too. Editorial in support of VRA in Texas.

MacArthur Foundation: New Poll: Americans strongly support national standards for voting
"Eighty-eight percent of Americans who voted in last week’s election support establishing national standards for voting, including the hours polls are open, who is eligible to vote, and the design of ballots"

Columbus Dispatch: Sen. Brown wants corporate campaign donors to disclose
"Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown, who was re-elected Nov. 6 despite more than $40 million spent by outside groups to defeat him, today urged Congress to reform the campaign finance system so that voters know who is spending money to influence elections."

Congress/2012
LA Times: Romney attributes loss to "gifts" Obama gave minorities
In a conference call with donors, Mitt Romney pulled a...Mitt Romney: "Mitt Romney said Wednesday that his loss to President Obama was due in large part to his rival's strategy of giving 'gifts' during his first term to three groups that were pivotal in the results of last week's election: African Americans, Latinos and young voters." Feel free to check out #ObamaGifts.

Public Campaign: Air transport, other industries, hope to cash in on T&I Committee
With House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff director heading to an industry trade association, PC's Kurt Walters looks at all the industry money fueling would-be chair Bill Shuster.

CRP: Obama keeps most major contributors, not finance
"Although Obama kept most of his top supporters from 2008-- chiefly the education industry and lawyers -- he lost the support of the securities and investment industry to Romney."

ThinkProgress: Poll: Voters hate super PACs, want more campaign finance disclosure
On PCAF's new poll: "A new poll of 2012 voters by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for Democracy Corps and Public Campaign Action Fund shows huge national concern with the growing role of money in politics and the lack of disclosure thereof. "

The Atlantic: Are super PACs the new lobbying firm?
Trevor Potter at Atlantic Ideas: "The next phase for super PACs is to 'turn into lobbying organizations,' Potter said. Why not? They have a staff, a brand, and if they're a group -- or have an arm -- that's registered as a nonprofit, they have to lobby in order to keep their IRS status." Potter and Bill Burton also discuss how super PACs "gave rise to a new donor elite." And The Grio talks to Bill Burton.

Sojourners: How to choose a president
Jim Wallis: "Most fundamentally, we need to focus on the tremendous influence of money in our society and in politics, and how that works against all who are powerless—the people that faith communities should always care most about. In particular, if we don’t challenge and change the growing power of money over politics, we simply won’t be able to accomplish the change we desire, and our hope for reforming democracy will steadily diminish. A commitment to the common good over private gain must now be the starting point of our politics."

HuffPost: Karl Rove's Crossroads failure contrats poorly with 2004 big-money stumble
Paul Blumenthal writes that Rove's efforts in 2012 and Dems "America Coming Together" effort in 2004 don't really compare.

Daily Beast: How Democratic groups beat the Republican super PACs in 2012
Op-ed from American Bridge's Rodell Mollineau explains why they think Dem super PACs were more effective than the bigger spending Republican ones.

WSJ: The Lessons of Defeat for the GOP
Karl Rove's Wall Street Journal column. This is the key part: "But Democratic attacks aren't weakening the commitment of conservative Super PAC benefactors. They're in it for the long haul and don't take direction from the left." Wendy Kaminer writes for the Atlantic that, "Karl Rove just can't let go."

HuffPost: Newt Gingrich: Citizens United super PACs "fundamentally profoundly wrong"
It's Newt! "Former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich spoke with Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert on Tuesday and appeared to suggest that he, like the comedian, was done defending super PACs."

Daily Beast: Super PACs will be back in 2016
"The current thinking in political circles is that even if super PACs have limited efficacy in a general election, they can have an outsized role in the earliest days of the 2016 primaries."

ThinkProgress: Weeks after donating $100,000 to Karl Rove's super PAC, coal company has "survival mode" layoffs
"After President Obama won reelection, Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp. immediately laid off more than 160 workers, blaming clean air protections and taxes. Before Murray announced its “survival mode” layoffs, the company donated $100,000 to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads in September, according to FEC records reported by Politico."

Other/States
WSJ: Targeting the "lobbyist" next door
"Are you a lobbyist? You might be and not even know it. That's because in more than half the country the simple act of speaking to fellow citizens about issues of public importance can be regulated as a form of lobbying."

Facing South: Big money plays big role in North Carolina elections
"In 2012, super PACs and other outside spending groups -- those not officially tied to a candidate or party -- spent more than $14 million on state-level races in North Carolina, according to an Institute for Southern Studies analysis."

WRAL: Will campaign contributions come up in court cases?
Lots of money was spent on North Carolina Supreme Court races: "Would heavy spending by special interests who will have issues before the court color the judgment of whoever was elected to the state's highest court?"