Buried in a post at The Iowa Republican‘s Craig Robinson is an interesting tidbit about 3d District Republican House nominee David Young paying out most of his cash-on-hand in “success fees” to consultants and “primary bonuses” to campaign staff. What makes this odd is that Young finished fifth in the primary. He was nominated via a lightning strike at a one-day convention, partially by sheer luck, and in any event via strategic decisions to which the primary team probably didn’t contribute a whole lot. I mean, seriously, what did media wizard Fred Davis do in the course of the convention to influence events, to the tune of a $25,000 “success fee?”
Perhaps these fees and bonuses are becoming a regular part of what campaign consultants and staff now demand, or maybe Young was so happy at his unlikely nomination that he started handing out money like Santa Claus. But it’s an interesting move to make at the beginning of what will be a competitive general election campaign.
