Posted on 08/14/2005 5:25:53 PM PDT by Mannaggia l'America
The Democrat's name appears on billboard and bus ads for the merged Scranton Times-Tribune.
It might just have faded like any other promotional campaign. The newly merged Scranton Times-Tribune wanted to call attention to itself with advertisements that appear this summer on TV, billboards and buses. The ads featured a mock newspaper with a banner headline: "Casey to run for Senate."
But at issue now - unfolding against the backdrop of a high-profile U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Rick Santorum and Democrat Bob Casey Jr. - is whether the ads are a harmless promotion for a business or a possible campaign-finance violation.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said Friday that the ads could be illegal corporate contributions that unfairly benefit the Democrat. They also called Casey's ties to the publisher's family troubling because family members have donated more than $120,000 to Casey and his brother Pat.
Lawrence K. Beaupre, the newspaper's managing editor, who said he came up with the promotion, rejected the Republicans' charge. And Casey's campaign manager, Jay Reiff, said the GOP was "chasing conspiracy theories."
The conflict reflects the early intensity of the 2006 Senate race, which will be one of the most watched in the nation. Although the election is 15 months away and the newspaper's promotional ad campaign will end later this month, any perceived leg up for either side is not going unchallenged.
Northeastern Pennsylvania went for Santorum in 1994 and 2000, but next year could be tougher for him. The Casey name is a brand in the region, home to the family for decades.
"Everything we are seeing about this is very troubling," said Dan Ronayne, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "We are looking into what appears to be a very serious federal election-law issue for the newspaper and the Casey campaign."
The committee is considering filing a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), possibly asking for the Casey camp to pay the cost of the ads.
The FEC declined to comment on the dispute.
Campaign-finance experts say, in general, media companies enjoy a broad exemption under federal finance law, which otherwise prohibits corporate contributions or spending that benefit candidates. The media are permitted to publish or broadcast material about political campaigns without being subject to the same restrictions as other corporations.
The question, experts say, is whether the company crossed the line when it created a headline that was different from the one the newspaper used on March 5 to report that Casey decided to enter the race for Senate. The headline that day said "Casey In, Hafer Out."
"With the headline being made up, it increases the likely criticism that they are not operating within the scope of their normal press and journalistic activities," said Jan Baran, a Republican election lawyer who is not involved in the matter.
Also at issue is whether the headline advocates Casey. Republicans say yes. The newspaper says no.
"I don't see how a story announcing the candidacy of someone so well-known here could influence someone's vote," Beaupre said. "It simply says he is going to run, which is something everyone here knows. It is a red herring."
Beaupre said he came up with the front-page prototype, which pulled together stories published on different days. He said he chose the Casey story because it was an "important local news story." He said he wrote a new headline to avoid using the original, which could have been confusing because it referred to another possible candidate, Barbara Hafer.
Publisher George V. Lynett and his family have donated at least $85,000 to Casey's state campaigns, according to finance records. The publisher's sister, Cecelia Haggerty, and her husband gave $4,200 to Casey's Senate campaign in March, according to federal records.
Casey's brother Pat received more than $40,000 during his two unsuccessful bids for a Scranton-area congressional seat.
The family's political contributions have been largely limited to the Casey family, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party ($15,000), and past Democratic opponents of Santorum's.
In 1989 and 1990, Gov. Robert P. Casey Sr. wrote college letters of recommendation for Lynett and Haggerty children, according to the Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission Web site.
The Lynett family's company, Times-Shamrock Group, also owns the daily Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice. It is a direct competitor of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, which is owned by Knight Ridder, the parent company of The Inquirer.
He said he chose the Casey story because it was an "important local news story." He said he wrote a new headline to avoid using the original, which could have been confusing because it referred to another possible candidate, Barbara Hafer.
Surrre, OK...
The FEC declined to comment on the dispute.
They'll fine someone $1000 after the election is over...
If they even go that far. We must demand a 'rapid response team' with the FEC when it comes to election shenanigans like this. It won't happen and if it did, of course, the FEC would be condemned as being on a partisan witch hunt anytime the party in power is GOP.
Anyone want to bet that if the NY Post ran a similar fake headline in ads that said "Hillary is a Lesbian" that the MSM, FEC, etc. would pretend it was fair instead of an unlawful campaign contribution?
""With the headline being made up, it increases the likely criticism that they are not operating within the scope of their normal press and journalistic activities,"
DUHHHHHHH....
These people are NOT journalists, they're ACTIVISTS with a HUGH megaphone!!
Hell, if the NYPost did that, all of NewsCorp would be assaulted and if Hildebeast won the White House, the IRS would be visiting the editorial board and publishers with an anal probe.
Aachems Razor.
There are by definition hundreds of headlines/year. They changed the wording of the real headline to benefit the chosen candidate.
FEC should count it as a contribution, and they should have to provide matching funds to be spent at Santorum's discretion.
PING
The Scranton Times and the Lynett family have been Democrat shills for over 50 years. Scranton politics under the Dems has always been one of the most corrupt in the nation. Every election day all the drunks and bums would come to the Courthouse to get their trip to the saloons stopping by the polling place along the way. Of course, they were so civic minded that would stop by several polling places to get a couple more shots.
The late Gov. Bob Casey Sr. was a true Democrat shunned by his party. His son is not a chip off the old block, but a scheming political drone capitalizing on the name. He was chosen to corral the anti-abortion Catholic vote, about 110% of the population in the Northeastern Pennsylvania region. Once in the Senate he would toe the line set down by "Catholics" Kennedy, Kerry, Leahy, and Biden. But the voters there are so dumb and wired to pulling the straight Demo handle that their fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have pulled that they will fall for the Casey scam.
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