The SwiftVets were not a "Republican" 527; they were a Vietnam Veterans' 527. Their chief spokesman, John O'Neill, was a Democrat. Their membership, and their donor base, consisted of as many Dems as Repubs.
In fact, President Bush, to his discredit, came dangerously close to repudiating them when he allowed himself to be sucked into the machinations of John McCain and his Democrat allies' in their attempt to "close the loopholes" in the 527 regulations in order to silence the Swiftvets.
This is why Allen is so right to oppose regulating 527s.
Although the Swiftvets were Nerte organized as a "Republican" 527 nor coordinated with the Republican party in the 2004 election, I still think it's correct for us to view them as a "Republican" entity because of the great service they did in proving Kerry was a fake "war hero" and reelecting President Bush. I'm a Republican and, once I saw how effective they were, I sent the major portion of my 2004 contributions to them.