Posted on 08/27/2004 1:54:53 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Stockton businessman Alex Spanos is among the top donors to a political group recently formed by backers of President Bush that has amassed a treasure chest of $35 million. The group plans a barrage of commercials criticizing Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry, even though the president this week denounced such outside organizations for running negative campaign ads.
The Progress for America Voter Fund was launched in May after the Federal Election Commission refused to shut down a crop of well-funded liberal organizations that were going after the president. Those groups, known as 527s, had formed quickly and begun raising large sums in the wake of new campaign laws, gaining a substantial edge on Republicans. Now, in an election already steamrolling fund-raising records, the new Republican group's deep pockets -- matching those of some of the big Democratic groups -- seem sure to set up an intense, and highly partisan, big-money battle on airwaves this fall.
The money spent by the groups will be on top of the $75 million in taxpayer money that will be available to each of the campaigns -- which are unlikely to apply serious pressure to shutter the groups, even if they decry some of their messages.
Among the backers of Progress For America are Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers football team, and Dawn Arnall, wife of the chairman of Ameriquest Capital Corp., a mortgage-financing company. Each has donated $5 million in personal funds. Both rank among the president's top donors and have been granted "Ranger" status by raising at least $200,000 for Bush's campaign.
Other supporters of the group include Boone Pickens, president of Pickens Capital LLC; Carl H. Lindner Jr., chairman of American Financial Group; and Jerry Perenchio, chief executive of Univision Communications Inc., the Spanish-language television company.
Besides Progress For America, another conservative group, backed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is expected to make its voice heard this fall. On Thursday, a new business-backed group called the November Fund announced its formation and said it planned to attack Kerry and vice presidential pick Sen. John Edwards on what it said was their record of opposing litigation reform.
The emergence of the new organizations coincides with a roiling controversy over a Vietnam veterans group's ad challenging Kerry's valor during the war and claiming he was illegitimately awarded some of his combat medals. The Kerry campaign says the Bush camp is illegally coordinating the attack ads. The Bush team denies that, but Tuesday a Bush-Cheney campaign lawyer added fuel to the fight by telling The Associated Press he's been advising the veterans group on legal matters. Asked about the ad on Monday, Bush said he believes Kerry served honorably and should be "proud" of his record, though he did not specifically condemn the ad or address its charges. He went on to renew a call for an end to all advertising by outside groups.
Until recently, Republican operatives had been outflanked by Democratic activists in raising money from wealthy individuals and special-interest groups for the new, unregulated organizations, which were a byproduct of the campaign-finance overhaul of 2002. Called 527s after the section of the tax code that governs them, they are required to operate independently of campaigns.
As of June, the major Democratic political groups, such as MoveOn.org and the Media Fund, had raised more than $70 million, according to disclosure reports, compared with about $8 million reported by major Republican political groups. That money had allowed Democratic groups to get a head-start in blitzing the media with ads, in large part because of seed money from wealthy individuals such as hedge-fund billionaire George Soros. Republicans focused their early efforts on shutting those groups down, but in May the FEC decided not to impose new rules in this election cycle.
At the time, the Bush-Cheney campaign issued a statement saying the FEC's decision gave a "green light" to such activity. Tuesday, Scott Stanzel, a campaign spokesman, reiterated that message, saying the commissioners "chose to delay their decision, so they created an election free-for-all."
As a result, backers of the president now are mounting their own aggressive offensive. "Progress For America was prepared to stay on the sidelines, and we did not initiate our efforts until the FEC ruled that they were not going to regulate 527 organizations," said Brian McCabe, the group's president. "In light of the level of spending by groups on the other side, we need to stay fully engaged."
Progress for America planned to begin airing ads Wednesday in two battleground states, Wisconsin and Iowa, McCabe said. The ads question whether Kerry would have adequately handled the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
One of the commercials opens with the smoky ruins of the Twin Towers and moves to several pictures of Bush with New York firefighters and other rescue workers. A narrator praises Bush's leadership and asks: "But what if Bush wasn't there? Could John Kerry have shown this leadership?" Then the ad ticks off votes by Kerry that it portrays as being against intelligence and Defense Department budgets.
I have heard Rush mention this guy haven't I??
A Cincinatus' Wife bump BTTT !!
Bump!
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business lobbying organization, plans to help pay for ads attacking Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards and other trial lawyers for allegedly raising the cost of doing business.
The chamber plans to fund a political organization that will ''tell the truth about the role John Edwards and the trial lawyers have played in driving up healthcare costs,'' said Bill Brock, a former Republican National Committee chairman and senator who co-chairs a political group called the November Fund. ***
They are pretty good buddies. Spanos frequently hosts Rush in his box at the big NFL games, and Rush has talked about him many times.
They'd better start spending the money on ads now before doing so becomes a criminal offense.
I wonder what the polling numbers on Edwards are; we sure aren't seeing as much of him as we saw of Joe Lieberman, are we?
Rush will mention this when he comes back... I am pretty sure.
BTW, I asked the fox to come up with a way to keep foxes out of my henhouse. He's working on it. Seems the first plan didn't work.
Great idea for the ad with the Twin Towers and the firefighters...Americans need to be reminded of that day. It seems many have already forgotten.
Chamber of Commerce ad sounds good also.
That ad is running many times a day in Des Moines. It is very good!
I'm glad to hear that.
We do it better.
And we remind people of the truth and they recognize it.
You got that right!
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