PlutocracyAlert: Pro-Rubio super PAC met with Koch donors

The Best President Money Can Buy!

(PMSNBC) - Monday was a good night for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for more reasons than one. While he placed better-than-expected in the Iowa caucuses, representatives from the super PAC supporting him was hobnobbing with some of the wealthiest Republican donors in the country.

Jon Lerner, media consultant with Conservative Solutions, the super PAC backing Rubio, is one of several pro-Rubio fundraisers to meet with donors at Charles and David Koch’s exclusive retreat.

The response from the donors was “very positive,” a source with knowledge of the group’s fundraising efforts told NBC News.

Presidential candidates have appeared at previous Koch retreats in an attempt to appeal to the wealthy conservative activists, but no candidate attended this one because it took place during the Iowa caucuses.

The attendance of pro-Rubio officials, however, is another sign that the Kochs like the young first-term senator and an opportunity for Rubio to tap into the networks’ deep pockets.

The Kochs, who spent an estimated $400 million in the 2012 cycle, have not committed to endorsing in the Republican primary, but they are closely monitoring the field.

The Kochs play close attention to policy positions the candidates take that would promote a small-government and free-market. They also are looking at viability, according to a source within the Koch’s organization Freedom Partners.

Of the preferred candidates, Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz are currently the best performing. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul dropped out this week, former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is struggling to gain attention and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is stuck in the single digits in polling. Read more.