An unprecedented burst of spending by outside groups is heralding the start of President Trump's re-election campaign. "Independent expenditures for multiple hybrid-PACs advocating for Trump's candidacy totaled over $1.27 million since the start of this year," the Center for Responsive Politics reports, while at a similar point in President Obama's re-election campaign such spending totaled a few hundred thousand dollars.
And the three outside spending groups dominating this effort are all linked to Dan Backer, a prominent attorney advocating for a loosening of campaign finance rules: the Committee to Defend the President, the Great America PAC and America Fighting Back PAC.












Samantha Shepherd, a child care director in Savannah, Georgia, and a single mom of two girls, said rising gas prices are affecting families at her center, including one mother who may not be able to take her children to school. (Courtesy of Samantha Shepherd)







