Moveon, etc, on the left have 85%of the 527 funding. So what does the Grey lady lead with?
CAMPAIGN FINANCING
G.O.P. Group Says It's Ready to Wage Ad War
By GLEN JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 - A day after President Bush called for an end to campaign spending by independent groups, one such Republican organization said on Tuesday that it had raised $35 million to counter Democratic attacks on television and hoped to wage a $125 million advertising campaign through Election Day.
The organization, the Progress for America Voter Fund, is the first Republican group to announce that it had raised a substantial amount of money to compete with Democratic-leaning groups that have collected tens of millions of dollars to attack the Bush-Cheney campaign on television.
Others may be poised to follow.
"We don't disagree with the president's take," the president of the group, Brian McCabe, said. "But we can't unilaterally disarm. There is extensive activity by the liberals, and we still need to counter them and level the playing field."
On Wednesday, the organization will begin commercials in Iowa and Wisconsin that attack Senator John Kerry's record on national security. Mr. McCabe said his group hoped to keep the spots running in the two states through the election and to add states as it raised money.
The Republican group begins its campaign as members of both parties argue the role of advocacy groups in the election, particularly so-called 527 committees that can collect the six- and seven-figure "soft money" checks forbidden to candidates and parties by campaign finance laws.
The fight intensified after Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has Republican links, made headlines with commercials that questioned Mr. Kerry's Vietnam War record. The advertisements started a round of accusations between the Bush and Kerry campaigns that resulted in the president's addressing the issue on Monday.
"I don't think we ought to have 527's," Mr. Bush said. "I think they're bad for the system."
Indeed, Republicans spent months arguing that the 527 committees were illegal and should be regulated. When the Federal Election Commission declined in May to impose tough regulations on those groups, many Republicans promised to begin raising money. Only lately have they gained traction.
Mr. McCabe's group has led the way, following the Democratic model of reaching out to wealthy partisans across the country. Organizations like the Media Fund, America Coming Together and the MoveOn.org Voter Fund have spent months soliciting donors like George Soros, the financier and philanthropist, and Peter B. Lewis, chairman of the Progressive Corporation, the insurance company.
Though the Progress for America Voter Fund entered July having raised $2.3 million, it received an enormous lift when Alex Spanos, the owner of the San Diego Chargers, and Dawn Arnall, a Republican donor from California, each agreed to contribute $5 million to the organization and to raise money on its behalf, Mr. McCabe said.
At least seven other donors have committed a minimum of $500,000 each, including Carl H. Lindner, chief executive of the American Financial Group; A. Jerrold Perenchio, chief executive officer of Univision; and T. Boone Pickens, the corporate investor.
The group used a team of professional fund-raisers around the country to gain access to major Republican donors and then cited the threat of Democratic advocacy groups in securing contributions and pledges.
"We showed them what the liberal 527's have done, what they spent and what we need to do to counter them," Mr. McCabe said. "When we sat down with people one on one and started to talk to them, that's when the process started taking off."
Some Republicans have said the organization gained steam last year when Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's top political strategist, and Ken Mehlman, his campaign manager, spoke at a briefing for Progress for America, a separate organization that formed the Voter Fund last May.
The fund now plans to use the Republican convention to raise still more money, setting up at the Ritz Carlton, where top fund-raisers are staying, to tap as many rich Republicans as they can.
"We have a long way to go," Mr. McCabe said. "But we have really picked up the pace."
His group is not the only one at work.
The November Fund, financed by the United States Chamber of Commerce and other business interests, plans to raise and spend $10 million attacking Senator John Edwards and his connection to trial lawyers. The group is run by Craig L. Fuller, an aide to President Ronald Reagan and chief of staff to his vice president, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Brock, former senator, labor secretary and Republican national chairman.
"I'm sympathetic to the president's concerns, but we are starting with one arm tied behind our back already," Mr. Brock said. "Democrats have been abusing this process for a long time."
Another group, American Resolve, was formed last month by John H. Sununu, the former White House chief of staff and governor of New Hampshire, and Grover G. Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.
American Resolve's name is gleaned from President Bush's speech after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Its goal is to counter Democratic statements about Mr. Bush's record and policies.
Officials did not return calls for comment, and it is not clear how much money the organization intends to raise. But David M. Carney, a former White House political director who is its executive director, promised to "turn the tables on the pro-Kerry front groups and fight fire with fire" in a statement that announced the formation of the group.
Groups that support Democrats are continuing to raise money for advertisements that attack Mr. Bush. Democrats embraced fund-raising through the 527 committees last year and, in contrast to the Republicans, never wavered while the election commission was weighing whether to restrict the committees.
The organizations have drawn on a list of well-known Democrats to lead them. Harold M. Ickes, former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, runs the Media Fund. Steve Rosenthal, former political director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O., is in charge of the ground operation for ACT. And Ellen Malcolm, who runs Emily's List, the largest political action committee in the country, raises money for both organizations.
Together, ACT, the Media Fund and another committee that raises money for both gathered almost $62 million through June, according to PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign finance. The groups also have pledges from others, and Mr. Ickes said the total was closer to twice that.
Mr. Ickes said the money raised by the Progress for America Voter Fund is enough to mount a credible campaign in battleground states, depending on the types of advertisements and their schedule. He said Democrats would hold their own.
"We'll be in this right down to the wire," Mr. Ickes said.
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company |
