People were left scratching their heads in July when Keep the Promise 1, one of a conglomerate of super PACs funded by deep-pocketed Cruz supporters (the others are cleverly named Keep the Promise PAC, Keep the Promise II and Keep the Promise III; don’t strain yourself, guys), revealed in its financial disclosures a $500,000 donation to Fiorina’s campaign. Keep the Promise 1 had a healthy $10 million on hand from an $11 million donation from hedge fund CEO Robert Mercer as of the end of June. But it only spent $536,169. A little for legal services. A little for surveys. And a whole lot for Fiorina. Even the Federal Election Commission is perplexed. [...] So, the FEC, as it does, sent a letter Wednesday asking for “a brief statement or description of why each disbursement was made.”
CARLY for America is the super PAC; Carly for President is the campaign. The difference between the two is so subtle that the candidate herself occasionally directs voters wanting to learn more about her campaign to her super PAC website: "Check out Carly-for-America-dot-com," Fiorina says. The difference between the two is also close enough to have warranted a slight name change after running afoul of FEC regulations that bar independent expenditure committees -- those not authorized by a candidate -- from using a candidate's name in their title. After the FEC flagged the violation in a letter to the super PAC, "Carly for America," a direct reference to the candidate, became the acronym: "Conservative, Authentic, Responsive Leadership for You (CARLY) and for America.