Ex-Biden aide forms Unite the Country super PAC

Ex-Biden aide forms Unite the Country super PAC

Larry Rasky, who worked on Biden's two previous presidential campaigns [JOE BIDEN, EVER THE LOSER], is listed as the super PAC's treasurer.



Former Vice President Joe Biden. | Scott Eisen/Getty Images

By MAGGIE SEVERNS

10/29/2019

A former Joe Biden aide has filed paperwork to form a super PAC, called Unite the Country, that is set to boost the former vice president with millions of dollars in spending in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Larry Rasky, who worked on two of Biden’s previous presidential bids, is listed as the treasurer for the new pro-Biden group. Several other high-profile Biden supporters — including Florida operative Steve Schale, a Barack Obama campaign alumnus who was involved in efforts to draft Biden into the 2016 presidential race; Mark Riddle, a Democratic operative; and Julianna Smoot, Obama’s former national finance director — have also been in talks to lead the super PAC.



Rasky previously helped Biden raise money for his campaign, asking donors to send checks made out to “Biden for President” to the Boston offices of his lobbying and public affairs firm, Rasky Partners. In past fundraising appeals, Rasky had touted Biden’s personal opposition to accepting super PAC support — a stance Biden has since reversed.

“Because Joe will not work with a Super PAC or take PAC money for his campaign, everyone is limited to $2,800 as a maximum gift,” Rasky wrote in fundraising email sent in April and obtained by POLITICO. “That will require a lot of work and a lot of checks to finance a presidential campaign effort.”

The same super PAC previously went by a different name, For the People PAC, but it existed only briefly in April, shortly before Biden launched his run for president. At the time, Matt Tompkins, a Democratic fundraiser, told The Hill: “You won’t win in 2020 by unilaterally disarming.”

But Biden senior adviser Kate Bedingfield shut down For the People PAC’s buzz when she replied to a tweet about the group with a brief statement: “. @JoeBiden does not welcome support from super PACs.” For the People PAC went quiet shortly afterward and never reported raising or spending money.

The filing for Unite the Country, which was first reported by Bloomberg News, marks the official beginning of an outside effort to boost the former vice president, a move that could raise and spend unlimited sums of money and give the cash-strapped Biden campaign a boost.

The group of operatives have hustled to form the PAC since Biden shifted his stance on super PACs and opened the door to their help last week. In past months, donors have been probed by Biden allies to see whether they’d be open to giving more money beyond their initial campaign checks. Several have told POLITICO they would.


Rasky isn’t a registered lobbyist, although others at his firm lobby for a handful of federal clients, including Raytheon, the Massachusetts-based defense contractor. Rasky owns an 87.2 percent stake in the firm, according to a Justice Department disclosure filing.

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