Geezah
08-24-2004, 01:29 PM
Led by veterans of presidential and congressional campaigns, a coalition of Democratic Party interest groups, armed with millions of dollars in soft money, is rapidly constructing an unprecedented political operation designed to supplement the activities of Sen. John F. Kerry's campaign in the effort to defeat President Bush.
The newest visible sign of the coalition's activities will be seen beginning today, when a $5 million advertising campaign begins in 17 battleground states. But behind the scenes, Democratic operatives are moving to set up coordinated national and state-by-state operations that amount to the equivalent of a full presidential campaign, minus the candidate.
The Democratic groups have created five organizations to oversee facets of the campaign: paid advertising; voter identification and turnout; communications, polling, research and rapid response; fundraising; and the coordination of the operations of more than two dozen liberal organizations.
This parallel Democratic campaign, already under legal challenge, grows out of changes in campaign finance laws. Those changes prohibit the national party committees from raising and spending soft money -- large, unregulated contributions -- on behalf of their presidential candidates. The Democrats have taken the expertise they developed in past campaigns and applied it to the new, separate operation. By law, coalition members cannot coordinate with the campaign of Kerry (Mass.), the presumptive Democratic candidate.
"Our sense was we needed to have a message up on the air that tells the truth about the Bush record and defends the Democratic position on the issues," said Ellen Malcolm, president of Emily's List and a driving force behind the coordinated effort. "There is no question that Bush has $100 million and Kerry is down to zero. It's very important that there are alternative voices out there talking about the Bush record."
Most of these new organizations have been established as "527s," shorthand for the provision of the tax law that covers their activities. The 527s are controversial because they accept soft money from corporations and unions, which critics say represents an evasion of the ban on large, unregulated contributions in the new campaign finance law known as the McCain-Feingold Act, and because they operate under less stringent disclosure regulations.
A new ad to be launched today was produced by the Media Fund, the principal vehicle for pro-Democratic television commercials by the coalition. But the coalition's advertising effort will be shared by MoveOn.org, the Internet-based liberal advocacy group that has become part of the umbrella operation established by the Democratic organizations.
The new ad -- one of three tested in focus groups in Tampa and Pittsburgh -- states that "George Bush's priorities are eroding the American Dream."
Ben Ginsberg, a lawyer for the Bush-Cheney campaign, called the Media Fund ads "a blatant circumvention of the new campaign finance law." He said the president's campaign plans to immediately file a complaint that seeks to have the Federal Election Commission determine whether groups "knowingly and willfully" solicited donors "to contribute in excess of federal law and to determine whether they [the donors] knew that the money was to defeat a federal candidate."
Harold Ickes, president of the Media Fund, said: "We would expect nothing less than scorched-earth harassment by the Republicans."
But in addition to the Bush-Cheney complaint, Democratic 527 groups face legal scrutiny by the FEC, which plans to issue new rules governing the organizations' activities. Republicans said the complaint is likely to take at least six months to process, and the new 527 rules will not be effective until late July at the earliest.
Republicans say that if the Democratic 527 activity is ruled legal, GOP groups will be quickly formed to match the opposition. Republicans have been under less pressure to raise non-party money because of the success of the Bush campaign, which has already raised about $150 million, and the Republican National Committee. In addition, past corporate soft-money donors to the RNC are reluctant to risk legal repercussions while the status of 527s remains in limbo.
The Democratic groups have created an operation that combines close coordination with a division of labor designed to avoid duplication of effort and maximize resources. Beyond the Media Fund, the entities include Americans Coming Together (ACT), which is responsible for get-out-the-vote efforts; America Votes, the umbrella organization that will stitch together the activities of various progressive organizations; the Thunder Road Group, which will concentrate on research and rapid response; and the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, a combined fundraising committee.
Malcolm, of Emily's List, said the groups have raised about $75 million, although other Democrats questioned whether all that money is in hand.
The Democratic 527 organizations have drawn support from some wealthy liberals determined to defeat Bush. They include financier George Soros and his wife, Susan Weber Soros, who gave $5 million to ACT and $1.46 million to MoveOn.org; Peter B. Lewis, chief executive of the Progressive Corp., who gave $3 million to ACT and $500,000 to MoveOn; and Linda Pritzker, of the Hyatt hotel family, and her Sustainable World Corp., who gave $4 million to the joint fundraising committee.
The Democratic coalition includes many of the party's most experienced strategists, spokesmen and fundraisers, as well former staffers for Kerry's campaign and the campaigns of several of his rivals. They include Ickes, who was deputy White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the AFL-CIO who is executive director of ACT, and Jim Jordan, formerly Kerry's campaign manager, who heads the Thunder Road Group.
Bill Knapp, who did ads for the Gore and Clinton presidential campaigns the past three elections, oversees the advertising operation for the Media Fund. Five pollsters, several with presidential experience, are sharing the coalition's survey research work.
MoveOn.org already has spent millions of dollars on anti-Bush ads. Much of the group's work, according to several Democrats involved in the coalition, will be concentrated in five states that Democrats hope to pick up in November: Florida, Ohio, Missouri, West Virginia and Nevada.
The group ran ads for 10 weeks in those states, including a prescription drug ad that ran for four weeks. Polling conducted by Stan Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992 pollster, showed the ad was particularly effective in enlarging the Democrats' advantage on that issue, according to sources familiar with the research. That has convinced Democrats they can move the battlefield in Kerry's direction.
The New Democrat Network, a coalition member, plans a separate $5 million television campaign aimed at Latino voters in four states.
On the organizing front, Rosenthal said he has hired state directors in 10 battleground states modeled on techniques successfully used by organized labor. Labor will be responsible for contacting union members. That will leave ACT free to concentrate on motivating other members of the Democrats' core constituencies, as well as some swing voters, using research from the National Committee for an Effective Congress to build sophisticated precinct vote goals.
Cecile Richards, executive director of America Votes, said her umbrella organization has hired eight state directors, with coordinating efforts beginning in 15 states. Individual organizations, from the Sierra Club to NARAL Pro-Choice America, will conduct their own activities.
But the Democrats hope to avoid a problem of past elections, when groups sent similar direct-mail messages to voters at the same time or concentrated on one area of a state to the exclusion of other areas. "We don't all need to be in Tampa," Richards said.
The Democratic 527 organizations have drawn support from some wealthy liberals determined to defeat Bush. They include financier George Soros and his wife, Susan Weber Soros, who gave $5 million to ACT and $1.46 million to MoveOn.org; Peter B. Lewis, chief executive of the Progressive Corp., who gave $3 million to ACT and $500,000 to MoveOn; and Linda Pritzker, of the Hyatt hotel family, and her Sustainable World Corp., who gave $4 million to the joint fundraising committee.
The Democratic coalition includes many of the party's most experienced strategists, spokesmen and fundraisers, as well former staffers for Kerry's campaign and the campaigns of several of his rivals. They include Ickes, who was deputy White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the AFL-CIO who is executive director of ACT, and Jim Jordan, formerly Kerry's campaign manager, who heads the Thunder Road Group.
Bill Knapp, who did ads for the Gore and Clinton presidential campaigns the past three elections, oversees the advertising operation for the Media Fund. Five pollsters, several with presidential experience, are sharing the coalition's survey research work.
MoveOn.org already has spent millions of dollars on anti-Bush ads. Much of the group's work, according to several Democrats involved in the coalition, will be concentrated in five states that Democrats hope to pick up in November: Florida, Ohio, Missouri, West Virginia and Nevada.
The group ran ads for 10 weeks in those states, including a prescription drug ad that ran for four weeks. Polling conducted by Stan Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992 pollster, showed the ad was particularly effective in enlarging the Democrats' advantage on that issue, according to sources familiar with the research. That has convinced Democrats they can move the battlefield in Kerry's direction.
The New Democrat Network, a coalition member, plans a separate $5 million television campaign aimed at Latino voters in four states.
The Washington Post March 10th (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A44513-2004Mar9¬Found=true)
It's a real shame when you have Conservative groups fighting fire with fire only to find that the Dems can't take the heat :cantbeli:
It's a shame Kerry doesn't put a halt to all these adds :D
The newest visible sign of the coalition's activities will be seen beginning today, when a $5 million advertising campaign begins in 17 battleground states. But behind the scenes, Democratic operatives are moving to set up coordinated national and state-by-state operations that amount to the equivalent of a full presidential campaign, minus the candidate.
The Democratic groups have created five organizations to oversee facets of the campaign: paid advertising; voter identification and turnout; communications, polling, research and rapid response; fundraising; and the coordination of the operations of more than two dozen liberal organizations.
This parallel Democratic campaign, already under legal challenge, grows out of changes in campaign finance laws. Those changes prohibit the national party committees from raising and spending soft money -- large, unregulated contributions -- on behalf of their presidential candidates. The Democrats have taken the expertise they developed in past campaigns and applied it to the new, separate operation. By law, coalition members cannot coordinate with the campaign of Kerry (Mass.), the presumptive Democratic candidate.
"Our sense was we needed to have a message up on the air that tells the truth about the Bush record and defends the Democratic position on the issues," said Ellen Malcolm, president of Emily's List and a driving force behind the coordinated effort. "There is no question that Bush has $100 million and Kerry is down to zero. It's very important that there are alternative voices out there talking about the Bush record."
Most of these new organizations have been established as "527s," shorthand for the provision of the tax law that covers their activities. The 527s are controversial because they accept soft money from corporations and unions, which critics say represents an evasion of the ban on large, unregulated contributions in the new campaign finance law known as the McCain-Feingold Act, and because they operate under less stringent disclosure regulations.
A new ad to be launched today was produced by the Media Fund, the principal vehicle for pro-Democratic television commercials by the coalition. But the coalition's advertising effort will be shared by MoveOn.org, the Internet-based liberal advocacy group that has become part of the umbrella operation established by the Democratic organizations.
The new ad -- one of three tested in focus groups in Tampa and Pittsburgh -- states that "George Bush's priorities are eroding the American Dream."
Ben Ginsberg, a lawyer for the Bush-Cheney campaign, called the Media Fund ads "a blatant circumvention of the new campaign finance law." He said the president's campaign plans to immediately file a complaint that seeks to have the Federal Election Commission determine whether groups "knowingly and willfully" solicited donors "to contribute in excess of federal law and to determine whether they [the donors] knew that the money was to defeat a federal candidate."
Harold Ickes, president of the Media Fund, said: "We would expect nothing less than scorched-earth harassment by the Republicans."
But in addition to the Bush-Cheney complaint, Democratic 527 groups face legal scrutiny by the FEC, which plans to issue new rules governing the organizations' activities. Republicans said the complaint is likely to take at least six months to process, and the new 527 rules will not be effective until late July at the earliest.
Republicans say that if the Democratic 527 activity is ruled legal, GOP groups will be quickly formed to match the opposition. Republicans have been under less pressure to raise non-party money because of the success of the Bush campaign, which has already raised about $150 million, and the Republican National Committee. In addition, past corporate soft-money donors to the RNC are reluctant to risk legal repercussions while the status of 527s remains in limbo.
The Democratic groups have created an operation that combines close coordination with a division of labor designed to avoid duplication of effort and maximize resources. Beyond the Media Fund, the entities include Americans Coming Together (ACT), which is responsible for get-out-the-vote efforts; America Votes, the umbrella organization that will stitch together the activities of various progressive organizations; the Thunder Road Group, which will concentrate on research and rapid response; and the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, a combined fundraising committee.
Malcolm, of Emily's List, said the groups have raised about $75 million, although other Democrats questioned whether all that money is in hand.
The Democratic 527 organizations have drawn support from some wealthy liberals determined to defeat Bush. They include financier George Soros and his wife, Susan Weber Soros, who gave $5 million to ACT and $1.46 million to MoveOn.org; Peter B. Lewis, chief executive of the Progressive Corp., who gave $3 million to ACT and $500,000 to MoveOn; and Linda Pritzker, of the Hyatt hotel family, and her Sustainable World Corp., who gave $4 million to the joint fundraising committee.
The Democratic coalition includes many of the party's most experienced strategists, spokesmen and fundraisers, as well former staffers for Kerry's campaign and the campaigns of several of his rivals. They include Ickes, who was deputy White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the AFL-CIO who is executive director of ACT, and Jim Jordan, formerly Kerry's campaign manager, who heads the Thunder Road Group.
Bill Knapp, who did ads for the Gore and Clinton presidential campaigns the past three elections, oversees the advertising operation for the Media Fund. Five pollsters, several with presidential experience, are sharing the coalition's survey research work.
MoveOn.org already has spent millions of dollars on anti-Bush ads. Much of the group's work, according to several Democrats involved in the coalition, will be concentrated in five states that Democrats hope to pick up in November: Florida, Ohio, Missouri, West Virginia and Nevada.
The group ran ads for 10 weeks in those states, including a prescription drug ad that ran for four weeks. Polling conducted by Stan Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992 pollster, showed the ad was particularly effective in enlarging the Democrats' advantage on that issue, according to sources familiar with the research. That has convinced Democrats they can move the battlefield in Kerry's direction.
The New Democrat Network, a coalition member, plans a separate $5 million television campaign aimed at Latino voters in four states.
On the organizing front, Rosenthal said he has hired state directors in 10 battleground states modeled on techniques successfully used by organized labor. Labor will be responsible for contacting union members. That will leave ACT free to concentrate on motivating other members of the Democrats' core constituencies, as well as some swing voters, using research from the National Committee for an Effective Congress to build sophisticated precinct vote goals.
Cecile Richards, executive director of America Votes, said her umbrella organization has hired eight state directors, with coordinating efforts beginning in 15 states. Individual organizations, from the Sierra Club to NARAL Pro-Choice America, will conduct their own activities.
But the Democrats hope to avoid a problem of past elections, when groups sent similar direct-mail messages to voters at the same time or concentrated on one area of a state to the exclusion of other areas. "We don't all need to be in Tampa," Richards said.
The Democratic 527 organizations have drawn support from some wealthy liberals determined to defeat Bush. They include financier George Soros and his wife, Susan Weber Soros, who gave $5 million to ACT and $1.46 million to MoveOn.org; Peter B. Lewis, chief executive of the Progressive Corp., who gave $3 million to ACT and $500,000 to MoveOn; and Linda Pritzker, of the Hyatt hotel family, and her Sustainable World Corp., who gave $4 million to the joint fundraising committee.
The Democratic coalition includes many of the party's most experienced strategists, spokesmen and fundraisers, as well former staffers for Kerry's campaign and the campaigns of several of his rivals. They include Ickes, who was deputy White House chief of staff in the Clinton administration, Steve Rosenthal, a former political director for the AFL-CIO who is executive director of ACT, and Jim Jordan, formerly Kerry's campaign manager, who heads the Thunder Road Group.
Bill Knapp, who did ads for the Gore and Clinton presidential campaigns the past three elections, oversees the advertising operation for the Media Fund. Five pollsters, several with presidential experience, are sharing the coalition's survey research work.
MoveOn.org already has spent millions of dollars on anti-Bush ads. Much of the group's work, according to several Democrats involved in the coalition, will be concentrated in five states that Democrats hope to pick up in November: Florida, Ohio, Missouri, West Virginia and Nevada.
The group ran ads for 10 weeks in those states, including a prescription drug ad that ran for four weeks. Polling conducted by Stan Greenberg, Bill Clinton's 1992 pollster, showed the ad was particularly effective in enlarging the Democrats' advantage on that issue, according to sources familiar with the research. That has convinced Democrats they can move the battlefield in Kerry's direction.
The New Democrat Network, a coalition member, plans a separate $5 million television campaign aimed at Latino voters in four states.
The Washington Post March 10th (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A44513-2004Mar9¬Found=true)
It's a real shame when you have Conservative groups fighting fire with fire only to find that the Dems can't take the heat :cantbeli:
It's a shame Kerry doesn't put a halt to all these adds :D