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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Raymond Duray who wrote (7669)	12/16/2003 11:31:13 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10965

Assuming that Dean is the eventual nominee, Karl Rove and the RNC can probably go on vacation for the next two months: cleveland.com Ex-Rep. Feighan chairs group running ads to discredit Dean 12/16/03 Stephen Koff Plain Dealer Bureau Chief Washington- Ed Feighan, the former Cleveland-area congressman who left Washington during the House banking scandal, is involved in politics - and controversy - again. A Democrat from Lakewood, he is chairing a secretive campaign to slow the momentum of presidential candidate Howard Dean by running negative ads in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Feighan and his group won't say who's behind the ads. One ad shows terrorist Osama bin Laden and suggests that Dean, a former Vermont governor, lacks the military and foreign-policy experience to "face the dangers ahead." Other ads appear intended to question Dean's record as a progressive, noting that he, like President Bush, got "top grades" from the National Rifle Association and, like Bush, embraced the North American Free Trade Agreement. The ads are "a new low," says the Dean campaign. The ad portraying bin Laden "could have been bought and paid for by George Bush, but it wasn't - it was bought and paid for by a secretive group of unnamed Democrats who will do anything to stop Dean," the campaign said on its Web log Saturday. The group buying the ads is called Americans for Jobs, Healthcare and Progressive Values. Feighan is its chairman, and its Web site gives an address on Lake Avenue in Lakewood. But the group is disclosing little else about itself, including the source of the $500,000 it says it has spent on commercials. The Dean campaign is crying foul. "If you're going to attack fellow Democrats using Osama bin Laden, you should at least stand up so people know who you are," Jay Carson, a Dean spokesman, said yesterday. David Jones, treasurer for Americans for Jobs, said the group will disclose its donors when required, at the end of January. Until then, he said, "I'm not going to say who the supporters are." Americans for Jobs registered Nov. 14 with the Internal Revenue Service under IRS Section 527 provisions, saying it would "engage in election-related activity for the purpose of supporting jobs and health-care issues." So-called 527 groups can make independent expenditures and accept unlimited contributions. Because 527 groups are not tied directly to candidates' campaigns, they are not bound by Federal Election Commission rules. The IRS does not require disclosure of donors until the end of January, which is after the Jan. 19 Iowa caucuses and Jan. 27 New Hampshire primary. The donors' names still might not be publicly available until after the South Carolina primary on Feb. 3. Jones has raised money for politicians including Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri, one of nine contestants in the Democratic presidential primary race. Americans for Jobs spokesman Robert Gibbs worked until recently for John Kerry's campaign. And Feighan, now chairman and president of Columbus-based ProCentury Corp., an insurance company, is a Gephardt financial supporter. Feighan gave $2,000 to Gephardt's campaign in February. Feighan did not respond to requests for comment. Spokesmen for Kerry and Gephardt have said they have no connection to Feighan's group. Feighan served in Congress from 1982 through 1992. He did not run for re-election after the House bank scandal, when it was disclosed he had 397 overdraft checks and carried a negative balance for eight months. To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: skoff@plaind.com, 216-999-4212 © 2003 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.