“Super PACs serve a purpose… but they're a crutch, not a skeleton key. You could have all the money in the world, it wouldn't have stopped this wave… You cannot think of super PAC spending as your first weapon. It is your last weapon of last resort.”
Unchained · Crypto & Web3 · November 2026
Context
Laura Shin asked whether the crypto industry's heavy super PAC spending, which failed to stop its targets this election, means it should change its lobbying strategy. Justin Slaughter argues relying on money makes you stop using other tools of persuasion.
Transcript
…citizen protection, and those are the things that are part of how you move forward with building, I think that's honestly a better place to be with keeping jobs here, keeping jobs in the U.S., ensuring control over this important technology, but with the right kinds of limits and protections.
…out, obviously, but as you guys mentioned, eyes are already on the 2028 election. So I wondered like if you had thoughts on the approach that the industry has been taking to lobbying and whether or not you felt that there should be some change in strategy or positioning for these next two years.
…there was a reason for that, but they're a crutch, not a skeleton key. And learning lessons from this experience, including that you could have all the money in the world. It wouldn't have stopped this wave. The amount of money that got spent in Texas. Was astronomical. It was an order of magnitude bigger, I think, than Fair Shade. It was like 500 million from everyone. How are we going by 12? You cannot think of super PAC spending as your first weapon. It is your last weapon of last resort. And that's good advice to anybody, I would say, in politics or in industry.
And I think I totally agree with that. I think there's also, you know, Nate Silver talks about this, but there's diminishing returns to these kinds of expenditures in high-profile races. As Justin noted, you know, like Elon Musk donated $150 million or something to. I didn't say his name for a…
Well, it's public. It's publicly disclosed. But
it didn't matter in Kansas and it didn't matter in South Carolina. It didn't matter in Maine. It didn't matter in Ohio, obviously. And so I think that there has to be an understanding there. I also think like there is a cost to your decisions, to these super PAC decisions. It's not zero cost…
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