Chairman Gillespie Letter to Fred Wertheimer, President & CEO of Democracy 21
November 17, 2003
Mr. Fred Wertheimer, President & CEO
Democracy 21
1825 I St, NW Suite 400
Washington, DC 20006
Dear Mr. Wertheimer,
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday details of the Democrat partys five-point plan to defeat President Bush. Point five was, maneuver around the new campaign-finance law by redirecting now-banned big donations away from the Democratic Party to a new set of groups that will coordinate attacks on Mr. Bush.
In August of 2002 you said, To the extent the parties are planning a massive evasion scheme, they are planning massive illegal activity and they will be challenged.
The Democrat plan to subvert campaign finance laws comes after weeks of reports that third-party special interest groups will spend between 360- to- 420 million dollars for the expressed purpose of defeating the President in 2004.
I know your organization and similar groups worked tirelessly to alter campaign finance laws. In March you said, the soft money ban will have a profound impact on American politics and will dramatically alter the landscape in Washington. Surely, the approach described in The Wall Street Journal is not the landscape you envisioned.
This would be a record amount by third-party groups spending non-federal dollars to defeat a candidate for federal office. These new groups have already inspired two of the largest donations in the history of American politics. George Soros announced his commitment of $15 million and Peter Lewis his commitment of $12 million. That means two men donating a combined $27 million in unregulated, undisclosed (unless by their own choosing) non-federal contributions for the sole purpose of defeating a candidate for federal office.
In response, you told the Washington Post, Im sorry Mr. Soros has decided to put so much money into a political effort to defeat a candidate. For a group that has prided itself over the years as the conscience of Americas campaign finance system that doesnt seem like much of a response, and certainly does not constitute a challenge.
According to Mr. Soros, he has donated $18 million to groups backing campaign finance reform, including yours. Now Mr. Soros is taking advantage of the changes advocated by such groups to make himself a major factor in the outcome of this Presidential election.
In January of 2002 you said, Soft money contributions taint our political system and taint our political leaders. They create, at a minimum, the appearance of undue access and influence and conflict of interest. It would be in keeping with that spirit for you to now disclose the amount Mr. Soros donated to your organization as you pushed members of Congress to enact policies that have made him so influential, and I respectfully urge you to do so.
Sincerely,
Ed Gillespie
Superb!
Now Democracy 21 should put up or shut up and go after the Moveon.org ads. Actually, they should have a long time ago, if this letter from Gillespie is any indication.
If they don't, then they are a partisan group, like the ACLU and the NAACP.
Yeah Ed...
That ought to take care of it.
Sheesh.