Posted on 06/25/2004 8:11:45 AM PDT by AFPhys
A free-market conservative organization -- called a "527 political organization" after a section in the tax code -- goes public on Friday with hard-hitting independent issue ads on television. It's about time.
The ads ask viewers to imagine how Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass), the likely Democratic presidential candidate, would have reacted to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, especially considering his voting record of opposition to spending on measures to increase U.S. security.
The ads, which may provoke an uproar in the media because they show footage shot at the World Trade Center site after the attacks, contrast Kerry's likely reaction to the courage and determination shown by President Bush.
The new commercials, the work of the Progress for America Voter Fund, place conservative messages on a field that has been dominated, up until now, by the Left.
According to press reports, Liberal 527s, including the MoveOn.org Voter Fund, the Media Fund, and Americans Coming Together (ACT) have had a huge head-start, fueled in large part by the donations of one person, the billionaire George Soros, for whom defeating George W. Bush has become an obsession. Soros has given $2.5 million to MoveOn and $10 million to ACT.
Soros's spending makes a mockery of the intentions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, which sought to bar large contributions. Critics of McCain-Feingold pointed out the loopholes, but the bill passed anyway, and groups backing Democrats immediately exploited it.
Through April 15, the latest reporting period, MoveOn had spent $15 million; the Media Fund, $10 million; and ACT, $11 million. MoveOn's commercials have been especially inflammatory. In January, MoveOn apologized for posting on its website two commercials that compared President Bush with Adolf Hitler.
As the election campaign began, Republicans pursued a strategy of trying to derail liberal 527 efforts while delaying the development of their own organizations. That may have been a mistake. On May 13, the Federal Election Commission refused to block 527s, "clearing the way for these organizations to exert considerable influence over this year's presidential race," as the New York Times put it.
Progress for America was founded as a non-profit, tax-exempt 100%(c)(4) organization, which, according to its website (www.progressforamerica.com), "promotes nonpartisan policies that stimulate the economy, reduce tax burdens on American families and businesses, and encourage free trade."
The new Progress for America Voter Fund (www.pfavoterfund.com) is a 527 political organization, described on its website as "a conservative issue advocacy organization dedicated to keeping the issue record straight on the campaign trail and serving as a 'Political Truth Squad.'"
The question now is whether conservative 527s can match -- and surpass -- the liberal groups that left the starting blocks long ago. Let's hope so. The excesses of Soros, especially, should be provoking conservatives to contribute. So far, he has given $15.8 million to anti-Bush groups, and there's a lot more where that came from.
But the new PFA-VF ads should go a long way toward energizing conservatives to get into the game. No longer is a presidential election simply a battle between two campaign organizations or two parties. Whether we like it or not, McCain-Feingold has unleashed independent organizations. The real battle in the air has begun.
CLICK HERE to view the latest television ads from Progress For America and to find out how you can help.
Conservative 527's, like this one, and the Club for Growth, will easily overcome the lying of the Soros and MoveOn.
I'll be writing a check to this one today.
Here's their URL, by the way: http://www.progressforamerica.com/
It's a sideshow. Soros and his gang are throwing their money down a rathole. The left really has no idea how to win an election. Clue: it isn't through $100 million in TV ads. These guys are soooooo funny to watch. They think they are finally able to mimic what the Republicans have done to win elections. The problem is they don't have a candidate who is credible or is running a halfway smart campaign.
Well, maybe they started earlier. But it would appear that their effort and money were wasted. Pity....
Smack the slime ball dims and smack 'em hard and often!
Sure they do. Vote fraud. It's worked for decades.
will these guys have to stop their adds after the 30th?
I've been waiting for this.
Even Soros and that other winner in "the lottery of life", the ketchup lady, can't possibly keep up with a $100 donation from every pissed off conservative in the US of A...
Check out this awesome new ad (now being shown in the Chicago area)... It's really hard-hitting, and to the point, using the Dems' OWN words...http://www.georgebush.com/
Man that is AWESOME! Good link, thanks!
I hope this gets played everywhere...and if it does, I just hope people will see how completely INSANE those morons are...
I'm not sure where it's being shown right now, Cali and Illinois are two states where it IS getting some pretty good play.
I don't know where any of these ads are being shown, but I guarantee that if I were calling the shots, they would be no where near the liberal sinkholes like the NY spot I live. That would be a total waste.
In some ways, it is really unfortunate, but the way things need to be run, those poor unfortunates such as me who live in a totally safe area for one or the other candidates only have the responsibility to pay for the ads to be run in other more competitive areas - and never see the ads being run where they have some chance of making a difference.
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Wow! That is a powerful commercial. I hope it will be shown here in Ohio. Two weeks ago, when W grabbed a 4% lead over F'n Kerry (45% to 41%), the Cleveland Plain Dealer had it on bold print on the front of page ONE, but other newspapers didn't report it anywhere in the paper at all. This is such an important state, I hope this ad resonates with the Ohio electorate.
I'm with you, this could be huge in Ohio.
Traditional Ohio Democrats haven't warmed up to Hanoi John; unlike the hard core, drink the kool-aid Socialist-democRats.
We really need GWB supporting 527's to get up to speed and set the record staright in a number of areas - the DEM 527's have kick our butts thus far -
Very good news - Just hope they get funded big time!
I just read today of a nursing union out of NY - that has sent out $35 million dollars (in dues) to defeat GWB with 527 type ads - not one dime of this money will be spent in NY (which they consider safe) - all of it will be spent in 8 battle-ground states!! -
We have to be able to take this on - GWB money alone won't come close -
According to press reports, Liberal 527s, including the MoveOn.org Voter Fund, the Media Fund, and Americans Coming Together (ACT) have had a huge head-start, fueled in large part by the donations of one person, the billionaire George Soros, for whom defeating George W. Bush has become an obsession. Soros has given $2.5 million to MoveOn and $10 million to ACT. Soros's spending makes a mockery of the intentions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, which sought to bar large contributions.Soros is a war profiteer (Yugoslavia), and should be turned over to Serbian justice. McCain-Feingold is an example of trying to apply altruism to politics. Politics is always and only about power.
George W. Bush will be reelected by a margin of at least ten per cent
Waiting a while for an organization like this is not such a bad thing. The electorate is being primed for an onslaught from the Pubbies. The head Pubbie, President Bush, has an uncanny talent for timing. Just wait, it'll be a landslide.
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