Republican donor unloads on 'dirty' feeling of political donations

Multimillionaire Republican donor John Jordan says he sometimes feels dirty when politicians beg him for money. "It's kind of like somebody hitting on you," said Jordan. "Sometimes some of them are better than others and some of them just make you feel dirty," he added. "You know the ask is coming when this happens, when they become excessively familiar. When they talk about how they've known you and how they follow your business, and how's it going out there in California. Message: I care."

Jordan has rubbed many political consultants the wrong way by taking a similarly controlling approach in the world of political advertising. Instead of sending checks to super-PACs controlled by consultants, Jordan likes to set up his own super-PACs to keep control over his money and direct his own advertising. He's spent more than $2.7 million on super-PACs over the past three years, according to the Federal Election Commission, but he now believes most super-PAC spending is worthless. "I don't write checks anymore to super-PACs where they let other people spend the money," Jordan said. "One of the dirty little secrets of politics is exactly how dirty the super-PAC world really is. ... The ad makers, the media buyers are just making a killing."