Sorry, but the dems started this 527 shenanigans, and the Republicans tried to stop it to no avail... Ellen Malcolm, Harold Ickes, and friends said they'd do it no matter what.
Very well documented, for those who don't believe in revisionist history.
e.g. PBS Online NewsHour, 3/26/04: pbs.org
"The activities of the Democratic 527's
MARGARET WARNER: And that, says Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie, means these groups are violating the law.
ED GILLESPIE: It's pure and simple they are operating illegally. If you use nonfederal dollars, as prescribed by the new campaign finance law, commonly known as McCain-Feingold, to elect or defeat a candidate for federal office, you're in violation of the law. And these 527s are taking nonfederal soft money, and they're spending them clearly and explicitly to defeat the president in his bid for reelection.
ELLEN MALCOLM: Well, the Republicans are blowing smoke all over the place trying to intimidate donors and talk about legal issues.
MARGARET WARNER: Ellen Malcolm is president of ACT, and a chief fundraiser for all these groups.
ELLEN MALCOLM: We are doing absolutely the appropriate thing, and they know it. This is much more about politics than it is about law.
MARGARET WARNER: Malcolm and Ickes have spent the past year on the phone and on airplanes, tapping ultra-wealthy donors. The top two: billionaire George Soros, who's committed $10 million, and Cleveland insurance magnate Peter Lewis, who pledged the same. More typical are less wealthy, but still well-heeled, ideologically driven liberal activists like San Francisco philanthropist Anne Bartley, who's committed $250,000. ..." |
