New Union-Funded 527 Blasts CO Republican

A new 527 organization funded by labor unions ran its first TV advertisement this week blasting Colorado Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for ties to "Big Oil."

The Colorado First Project, formed in May, has taken in $250,000 from the Service Employees International Union and $100,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The group's president is a Colorado yoga teacher, Allyson Levine, and its attorney is Mark Grueskin, who was hired by the Democratic National Convention Committee as counsel for the Denver convention. The group doesn't have a Web site and is trying to operate with a low profile.

"The decision's been made that the ads speak for themselves," says Grueskin. "Unlike a lot of political groups that need to puff themselves in them media, this is a group that decided not to do that."

Read a transcript of the ad below:

When it comes to Bob Shaffer and Big Oil, the numbers tell the story. Gas prices at $4 a gallon. Oil companies making record profits. And what's Bob Schaffer done?

Bob Schaffer's campaigns have taken over $180,000 from Big Oil and Gas. And in Congress, he gave Big Oil and Gas $13 billion in tax breaks. Then, as an oil executive, Bob Schaffer was paid over a million dollars.

Tell Bob Schaffer, Coloradans, not Big Oil, need help at the pump. Colorado First Project is responsible for the content of this advertising.

-- Will Evans

1:24 PM ET | 08-15-2008 | permalink

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