Union Power -- More Than Meets The Eye

Organized labor is in the mail, on the airwaves and on the streets for Obama and other Democratic candidates. And there's even more union activity underneath the surface. Besides their own ads and massive get-out-the-vote campaigns, which we detail below, unions are bankrolling the attack ads of several other advocacy organizations.

Here are some new disclosures:

MoveOn Money Behind The Curtain

"Paid for by MoveOn Political Action" appears at the end of only one TV ad these days, but MoveOn.org is involved in more behind the scenes.

MoveOn, for example, gave $583,000 to bankroll Health Care for America Now's recent ad hammering McCain's health care policy.

MoveOn also gave $400,000 this month to Campaign Money Watch, which recently ran an ad against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and today has a new one taking on McCain. (Private equity billionaire Jerome Kohlberg, a long-time advocate for campaign finance reform, also pitched in $130,000.)

The new CMW ad, aimed at conservative viewers in Florida, Virginia and on national cable, spotlights McCain's penchant for gambling and his contributions from the gambling industry. Here's a Las Vegas Review-Journal story on the subject. The ad starts by comparing McCain to "celebrities" who "love to gamble" like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. It's a sarcastic allusion to a much-discussed McCain campaign ad comparing Obama to the pop stars.

It may seem a bit odd that an organization dedicated to the public financing of elections would go after McCain, the only candidate who actually decided to take public financing for his campaign. Obama's explosive fundraising, meanwhile, is being blamed by some for the imminent demise of the system.

But David Donnelly, director of Campaign Money Watch, explained to us a while ago, "Our view is that the current system is broken. Candidates are going to fund their campaigns in whichever way they think will bring them to victory." For Donnelly, the question is, "Which candidate has pledged to make fixing the presidential system a priority?" His answer: "Obama has."

-- Will Evans

5:10 PM ET | 10-27-2008 | permalink

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A Tour Of Senate Ads

Our business here is to monitor indie political groups and their ads, and business has been good. Advocacy groups haven't run out of money. The bad news? They've run out of ideas.

Two new North Carolina ads follow story lines we've heard over and over before (not that that's a bad way to influence voters -- it just makes the blog more boring). Here's one from Freedom's Watch, blaming Democratic Senate candidate Kay Hagan for jacking up taxes. Our takeaway: She wants to tax candy?!

Next, Americans for Job Security denounces unions that want to take away secret ballots in union elections. "Hagan's on their side, not ours," the ad says, as an armored truck speeds out of Washington, presumably delivering union cash to Hagan. Watch the ad here. There's a virtually identical ad targeting the Democrat Ronnie Musgrove in a Mississippi Senate race.

Moving along to New Hampshire... Labor unions (those bad guys from the last ad) are piling on to Sen. John Sununu (R-NH) by, predictably, tying him to President Bush. The distinguishing factor? The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees uses a rope metaphor (we're at the "end of our rope") and the Service Employees International Union uses a country-store cash register gimmick. We don't have the AFSCME ad in blogable format, so you'll have to trust us. Here's the SEIU ad:

Now follow us to Minnesota for a breath of fresh ideas...

Continue reading "A Tour Of Senate Ads" »

12:55 PM ET | 10-23-2008 | permalink

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Money To Burn

Most people are fretting about their money these days. But there's a select few who, in the heat of the election season, are eager to give their cash away. We're going to name some names in the liberal donor network...

VoteVets is a 501(c)(4) noprofit, so usually we don't know who funds it. But the group had to reveal that its latest ad against Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) was bankrolled mainly by two $100,000 contributions from Northern Californians.

One of them, Michael Kieschnick, is president and co-founder of the liberal phone company Working Assets. He also sits on the board of the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.

The other, David DesJardins, worked as a software engineer at Google. He made out pretty well. Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 2007:

These days, desJardins, wears many hats, none full time. He invests in startups, evangelizes other Googlers on the merits of philanthropy, consults for a Defense Department-sponsored think tank that specializes in encrypted communication, and is the world's top-ranked player of Titan, a board game featuring armies of mythological beasts. All the while, he's remodeling his home in Burlingame and working with an architect to build a second one. Initially, desJardins' time off was consumed with the complexities of managing his financial bounty, including tax planning and setting up a plan for charitable giving (he and his wife created a $20 million fund within the Silicon Valley Community Foundation).

VoteVets also got $15,000 from an actual resident of North Carolina, liberal blogger James Protzner.

Meanwhile, Campaign Money Watch, which is running ads against Colorado Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), just reported a cash infusion including...

Continue reading "Money To Burn" »

10:06 PM ET | 10-11-2008 | permalink

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October Bombardment, Senate Edition, Colorado Chapter

There are so many Senate ads coming out right now that we had to slice off these Colorado ads for their own post.

The American Future Fund criticizes Democratic Senate candidate Mark Udall for being out of touch and financially unresponsible. AFF blames him for "no real reform, just bickering and bailouts for billionaires," and tells him to get "a reality check."

Campaign Money Watch, on the other hand, suggests Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer has ethics problems by tying him to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The ad says Schaffer defended sweatshops on the Mariana Islands after taking a "luxury trip" there arranged by Abramoff's firm. Back in the '90s, the Marianas government was one of Abramoff's big clients. Here's a more detailed, nonpartisan version of events.

You can check out Campaign Money Watch's funding here. Funders of the group's charitible affiliate include George Soros' Open Society Institute. Now let's take a look at the group's leadership...

Continue reading "October Bombardment, Senate Edition, Colorado Chapter" »

4:39 PM ET | 10- 9-2008 | permalink

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AK Senator Accused Of "Pay-To-Play Politics"

Campaign Money Watch launched a new TV ad tracking the money behind embattled Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)...so let's take a look at the money behind Campaign Money Watch.

The ad says Stevens, who is under federal indictment as he runs for an eighth six-year term, received money from "insurance, health and drug interests" and then cast votes that left consumers with higher prescription drug prices. The ad concludes, "Isn't it time we stopped pay-to-play politics in Washington?"

Campaign Money Watch is a project of the liberal group Public Campaign Action Fund, which has public financing for congressional campaigns as its long-range goal. For this ad, the group received $300,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which continues to be one of the most politically active unions this election. And it got $50,000 from the defunct liberal group Campaign to Defend America, which was supposed to be a vehicle for anti-McCain advertising.

As for individual contributions, the group got $150,000 from John Hunting of Grand Rapids, MI, who also cuts big checks to America Votes, the League of Conservation Voters and Majority Action.

Campaign Money Watch also recieved $125,000 from David Bonderman of Texas Pacific Group, who is a big donor to Defenders of Wildlife.

-- Will Evans

4:34 PM ET | 09-15-2008 | permalink

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