“The super PAC that has been formed to draft tea party star Dr. Ben Carson to run for president has attracted a lot of attention for its massive fundraising capability, which has raked in more cash than the similar effort to draft Hillary Clinton,” BuzzFeed reports.

“But the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee is spending as much as it’s taking in: $10,757,609, to be exact, according to Federal Election Commission data. The money is mostly being spent on fundraising efforts and for a digital campaign that the group’s campaign director told BuzzFeed News is modeled on the vaunted Obama operation. It’s also providing a salary for Vernon Robinson, the campaign director, who has made nearly $236,000 from his work so far for the PAC, according to FEC filings.”

Time has a new interactive tool that places 2,700 common brands on a political spectrum based on the percentage of their brick-and-mortar stores that are located in Democratic or Republican districts – determined by the 2014 midterm elections.

For example: Of the 139 American Apparel stores, 83% are in blue districts, whereas only 12% of Belk stores are in Democratic districts and Chipotle falls right in the middle, with an equal 50% split of locations in Democratic and Republican districts. Another example would be Tim Horton’s is 63% Republican, Starbucks 49%, and Dunkin’ Donuts is 36% Republican.

Sarah Palin told Fox Business that she may run for office again, in part to “bug the crap” out of liberals.

Said Palin: “Those haters out there don’t understand that it invigorates me. The more they’re pouring on the more I’m gonna bug the crap out of them by being out there with a voice, with a message, hopefully running for office in the future, too.”

Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) “says the model laid out by former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) in his post-congressional life is a ‘great example’ of what she’d like to do: some time as a talking head, a position at a think tank (preferably having something to do with foreign policy), premium speaking fees and maybe a book or two,” the Washington Post reports.

“Solamere Capital, a Boston-based private equity firm that Mitt Romney joined upon losing the 2012 presidential race, has raised $525 million for its second fund, Fortune has learned. This total does not include commitments from Solamere’s general partners, which include Romney’s son, Tagg.”

Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) plans to join boutique investment bank Moelis & Co. as he embarks on a new career on Wall Street, the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Cantor lost his seat in Congress when he was defeated in a June primary. Rather than continue as majority leader, he stepped down from the post last month.”

Bloomberg says Cantor will be paid at least $3.4 million this year.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair “gave Kazakhstan’s autocratic president advice on how to manage his image after the slaughter of unarmed civilians protesting against his regime,” the Telegraph reports.

“In a letter to Nursultan Nazarbayev… Mr Blair told the Kazakh president that the deaths of 14 protesters ‘tragic though they were, should not obscure the enormous progress’ his country had made. Mr Blair, who is paid millions of pounds a year to give advice to Mr Nazarbayev, goes on to suggest key passages to insert into a speech the president was giving at the University of Cambridge, to defend the action.”

“The presidency of Barack Obama has catapulted a network of former advisers into lucrative positions,” The Hill reports.

“Members of the president’s brain trust have steadily moved outside the administration in recent years, capitalizing on their association with the Obama brand to launch careers as advisers, consultants and hired guns.”

Former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe announced he is joining Uber:

New York Times: “Mr. Plouffe, who ran President Obama’s 2008 campaign, said he planned to run Uber’s communication efforts much like a political race, pushing to woo consumers and regulators alike in the company’s fast-paced expansion across the world.”

Try Uber and get $30 off with this link.

“Former Mayor Buddy Cianci’s face beams from the label of his Mayor’s Own Marinara Sauce, which also promises that sales are ‘Benefiting Providence School Children’ and have helped hundreds of students attend college,” the AP reports.

“But in recent years, no money from the sauce’s sales has been donated to Cianci’s charity scholarship fund… From 2009 to 2012, the sauce made a total of $3 in income.”

Hillary Clinton “usually requires those who pay her six-figure fees for speeches to also provide a private jet for transportation,” the Las Vegas Review Journal reports.

“And she doesn’t travel alone, relying on an entourage of a couple of ‘travel aides,’ and a couple of advance staffers who check out her speech site in the days leading up to her appearance, much like a White House trip, according to her contract and supporting documents concerning her Oct. 13 speech at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation fundraiser.”

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Since stepping down as British prime minister in 2007, Tony Blair “has tried to fashion a second act as a globe-trotting do-gooder… But at home, enthusiasm for such endeavors has been tempered by
criticism of his equally ambitious business enterprises, through a
private consultancy called Tony Blair Associates, whose clients have
included controversial monarchs and autocrats,” the New York Times reports.

“In many ways, Mr. Blair faces a perception problem. Years into his postpolitical makeover, confusion lingers about what particular hat he wears at any given time… His various roles often intersect with polarizing figures, which has only given the press more fodder.”

Fox Detroit has a report on campaign fundraising that includes this interesting nugget:

“Since 2010, the Conservative Strikeforce has raised nearly $10 million. More than $9 million of the loot was paid to the fundraisers. That means candidates got less than 8 percent of the money donors sent in.”

“There is a new Clinton paid to deliver speeches — Chelsea, the former first daughter — and she is commanding as much as $75,000 per appearance,” the New York Times reports.

“Aides stressed that while Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton often address trade groups and Wall Street bankers, Ms. Clinton, now 34, focuses on organizations whose goals are in line with the work of the family’s philanthropic organization, the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation. Organizers said her star power helped sell tickets and raise money.”