Posted on 08/26/2004 9:58:50 AM PDT by NotchJohnson
The resignation Wednesday of an attorney tied to both President Bush's re-election campaign and a so-called 527 political organization had Democrats crying foul, while Republicans said it is just another example of their opponents' double standard.
Ben Ginsberg stepped down from his position as the Bush-Cheney campaign's national counsel Wednesday with a letter that defended the legality of providing aid to the anti-Kerry organization Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, saying the conflict over the issue had become "a distraction from the critical issues at hand in this election."
Ken Mehlman, chairman of Bush-Cheney '04, described Ginsberg's resignation as "an example of a decent public servant who understood the entrenched double standard in the media's examination of the relationship between campaigns and outside interest groups."
Democrats, however, charged the development did not end what they have said are illegal ties between the Bush campaign and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, but have refused repeated calls for comment on their own connections to anti-Bush 527s.
Ginsberg's resignation "only confirms the extent of those connections," Kerry-Edwards campaign Manager Mary Beth Cahill said in a statement.
"Now we know why George Bush refuses to specifically condemn these false ads. People deeply involved in his own campaign are behind them, from paying for them, to appearing in them, to providing legal advice."
But while Democrats continue to hammer the Republicans for their connections, the Bush-Cheney campaign has issued its own statement outlining the "Top 10 Connections Between John Kerry and 527s."
Like Mehlman, Bush re-election campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel told United Press International that people need to look into the Democrats and their coordination with 527s.
"The real question surrounds this sort of revolving door of campaign strategists between the Kerry campaign and the Democratic 527s," Stanzel said.
"I mean, there are campaign workers who have had access to polling data, who had access to strategic campaign decisions, who are now propping up the Kerry campaign on the outside through their soft-money spending in these shadowy third-party groups.
"Those relationships raise serious questions about their ability to credibly deny coordinating activities."
Stanzel pointed to former Kerry campaign manager and longtime Democratic activist Jim Jordan, who is involved with both the Media Fund and America Coming Together. Both are among the top 10 best-funded 527s. The Media Fund has approximately $28 million, while ACT has about $26 million, according to their most recent filings with the Internal Revenue Service.
Harold Ickes, former deputy chief of staff during the Clinton administration and a member of the Democratic National Committee's executive committee, heads the Media Fund.
"Harold Ickes has even admitted he has told the Kerry campaign what he is doing in his 527 activities," Stanzel said.
Media Fund Executive Director Eric Smith worked with Kerry Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Elmendorf on the primary campaign for Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., and attorney Bob Bauer serves a counsel both to the Kerry campaign and ACT, Stanzel said.
"So their claims that they are not coordinating activities are laughable at best."
Since the weekend, Republicans have been warning that their adversaries intend to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, although the FEC told UPI it has not received a complaint.
Kerry campaign adviser Michael Meehan has not returned UPI's numerous calls for comment on the issue.
Republicans in fact filed a complaint about what they said is blatant coordination between the Kerry campaign and groups such as ACT and the Media Fund. The FEC decided effectively to shelve the issue until after November's election.
Late last week the commission also voted in favor of rules closing some of the loopholes governing 527s, including a $5,000 limit on donations by individuals. The rules, however, will not go into effect until 2006.
Federal law governing what constitutes "coordination" is fairly stringent. The activities must satisfy a three-part test regarding who pays for the communication, whether it reasonably can be said to be connected to an election, and a conduct standard for the parties involved.
The FEC has defined coordinated political communication as that "made in cooperation, consultation or concert with, or at the suggestion of" a candidate or the political party committee or their agents.
FEC spokesman Ian Stirton would not comment on the validity of hypothetical cases such as that of the Kerry campaign, but Stanzel categorically denied any coordination between the president's campaign and any third-party group.
"There has never been any coordination between Bush-Cheney '04 and any 527 organization," he said.
But although the Kerry campaign has been on the offensive in terms of pointing out connections between the Republicans and groups such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- which has less than $200,000 -- it has been slower in talking about its own ties.
Interesting.
"If Bush and Kerry were equals, Bush would be down by 30 points by now."
What do you mean?
GOP 527. No it's an Anti-Kerry 527.
Not to put words in the other poster's mouth, but I interpret it to mean that if kerry were a candidate on equal footing with Bush (i.e. not a substantially inferior candidate) then all this publicity and cheerleading by the major media whores on kerry's behalf would have vaulted kerry to a 30 point lead by now.
I believe he was alluding to the fact that when it comes to morality, courage, honesty, leadership, and a host of other qualities that separate the men from the boys, Kerry is so obviously inferior that even with the tables tilted on edge, Bush holds his own...
"If Bush and Kerry were equals, Bush would be down by 30 points by now."
What do you mean?
I mean if it were not for the press Bush would be leading by 30 points.
Thanks for clearing it up.
I called the N&O and left a message for the Publisher, telling him that I was cancelling my subscription, and the reason why. Then I asked to be transferred to the Circulation Department and made my threat a reality. I wish others in the Raleigh area would do the same.
I am sick and tired of the bias and double standards.
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