The battle to define Charles and David Koch - Kenneth P. Vogel - POLITICO.com"Virtually unknown as recently as 2009, the Kochs have become political household names, following in the footsteps of other wealthy bankers and industrialists such as the 19th century Robber Barons – the Fricks, Harrimans and Rockefellers – who have been targets of progressives and reformers. But the new prominence of the Kochs is a case study in the kinds of 21st century big-money branding battles that underlie many Washington political and policy fights. It features one side using all the means of modern political communications to put a face on its opponents – and the other side furiously fighting back using its own techniques.
The Kochs – each of whom is worth a reported $21.5 billion as a result of their stakes in Koch Industries, the family owned oil, chemical and consumer products business – have been donating millions of dollars to small-government conservative causes and candidates for decades."
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