MoveOn's millions mostly fund hits on GOP

The Washington Times ^ | September 20, 2007 | Jim McElhatton

[neverdem]

The political arm of MoveOn.org is spending far more money attacking Republicans than on behalf of the Democrats it supports, campaign filings show.

Since last year, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show the group has spent nearly 90 percent of more than $3 million in so-called independent expenditures to target a dozen Republican candidates, including presidential aspirants Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York City, and Arizona Sen. John McCain.

"The political and practical reality is that negative ads work, and they work better than positive ads," said Kenneth A. Gross, former associate general counsel for the FEC.

"That's particularly true of an independent group because candidates themselves don't want to be running negative ads if they can avoid it," Mr. Gross said. "They'd rather be taking the high road, and the independent groups can hit a little harder"

MoveOn's negative campaigning prompted criticism from Republicans and some Democrats after a recent ad in the New York Times called Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, "General Betray Us."

According to FEC records, MoveOn has spent less than $400,000 in independent expenditures supporting approximately 60 Democratic office seekers since last year. But during the same period, the group spent about $2.7 million against Republicans.

The law defines independent expenditures as money spent expressly for or against a candidate, but not in concert with the office seekers or their campaigns.

In one race last year, MoveOn, which did not return messages, spent more than a half-million dollars in independent expenditures against Rep. Thelma Drake, Virginia Republican. But the group spent less than $10,000 supporting her unsuccessful Democratic challenger.

In another contest, MoveOn spent more than $440,000 against then-Rep. Nancy L. Johnson, Connecticut Republican, including ads that also targeted Republican incumbents in other contests. The group...

[T Lady]

...and the only people surprised are our media....

Are you kidding?! The MSM is MoveOn's megaphone.

[EdReform]

BTTT