And They Keep Coming

Independent groups are vying to get in the last word before the election's over, so we'll try too. Here's a litte potpourri of last-minute efforts...

And it doesn't get more last-minute than this: Vets for Freedom just busted out with a TV ad today, airing in Pennsylvania and Ohio, channeling some veterans' anger at Obama. The ad (below) starts out talking about Dwight Eisenhower and some letters he wrote and how Obama only wrote one letter, except that's a metaphor...but the real message is that Obama only saw failure in the courageous efforts of Iraq War veterans. It ends with a spoof of one of Obama's slogans, saying, "Can we win our war? Yes we can."

Meanwhle, RightChange.com picked up a star of Republican Big Money: Bob Perry, the mega-donor who gave millions to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004. Perry gave $100,000 to RightChange's campaign against Obama and in defense of Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-NC). It's somehow reasuring to know that Perry isn't slacking off this election season.

Progressive Future, which we already profiled, put up an anti-McCain ad on cable that's more about mood than message. It shows images of people struggling with the economic downturn set to Paul Simon singing, "I don't know a soul who's not been battered..." When Simon gets to the lyrics, "I wonder what's gone wrong," the ad ends up on a Bush-McCain hug.

Guns and abortion -- with a special appearance by Chuck Norris -- after the jump...

Continue reading "And They Keep Coming" »

4:14 PM ET | 11- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Attack Of The Attack Ads

We thought some of the attack ads in September and October set new standards for tearing down a candidate.

We were naive.

RightChange.com just put out one of the most heavy-handed ads we've seen. It starts with sirens wailing and shaky video of the World Trade Towers billowing smoke -- footage that would have been unthinkable in a political ad a few years ago. The voiceover ties 9/11 to the current economic crisis and says,"'Joe Biden predicts another attack." The ad runs audio of Biden's prediction of a "generated crisis"; there are quick, staged images of "terrorists" preparing an attack, with a photo of Barack Obama also appearing. The ad ends with a bomb blast.

This from a group that, until now, has focused on taxes.

The other recent ad attacking Obama in the context of 9/11 came from the National Republican Trust PAC, which is spending enormous amounts on its anti-Obama ads in the final stretch. It reported ad buys of $800,000 Wednesday, $1.2 million Thursday and $2.53 million Friday.

GOP Trust PAC is truly in the major leagues. In just one month of activity, it surpased MoveOn.org in independent expenditures for the whole campaign season, according the Center for Responsive Politics.

Yet another attack-PAC, Freedom's Defense Fund, just came out the ad below, which accuses Obama of having "campaigned" for a "communist" Kenyan leader who "spread fundamental Islamic law" while "the Christian majority is under attack." Both Politifact and Factcheck.org have already debunked these claims, popular among anti-Obama conspiracy theorists. They derive from the widely discredited book of Jerome Corsi, who has been a paid consultant to Freedom's Defense Fund.

And finally, there's a simple but brutal ad from the Republican Majority Campaign, after the jump...

Continue reading "Attack Of The Attack Ads" »

6:21 PM ET | 11- 1-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

RightChange Gets Money From Controversial Businessman

RightChange.com's blitz of anti-Obama ads has been bankrolled mainly with more than $5 million from pharmaceutical executive Fred Eshelman. But this month the 527 organization diversified: it put out a new ad (below) supporting Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole in its home state of North Carolina. And it reported receiving $100,000 from a controversial businessman named R. Craig Estey.

In trying to figure out who Estey is, we found some interesting background. Estey runs a chain of gambling parlors in Nevada called Dotty's. He also operated one of the biggest video gambling operations in Oregon until the state lottery ran him out of town.

In December 2006, Oregon Lottery Director Dale Penn wrote Estey to terminate his state lottery contract because "you do not satisfy the requirements of good character, honesty, and integrity that apply to all Lottery Retailers."

It all started with a domestic dispute Estey had in 2005, when he allegedly held a gun to his then-wife's head and threatened her life.

Gaming officials from Nevada looked into it. The Gaming Control Board said that Estey initially lied to its investigators before admitting his wife's version of events. He eventually agreed to a $200,000 fine from the Nevada Gaming Commission.

The Oregon State Lottery eventually found out about the case from a newspaper columnist. Because of the incident, the lying and the fact that Estey didn't notify Oregon officials of his problems, Penn wrote that "your continued association with the Oregon Lottery poses a threat to the actual or apparent integrity, fairness and security of the Lottery and is not consistent with the public interest, convenience and trust in keeping with the sensitive nature of the Lottery."

We tried to contact Estey through his lawyer on Wednesday but Estey hasn't responded. He sold his Oregon company last year but is still operating in Nevada. And now, Estey is venturing into the not-quite-ended 2008 campaign.

-- Will Evans

1:41 PM ET | 10-31-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Obama As The Tax Man

The upstart RightChange.com is emerging as one of the loudest independent voices in the late stages of the campaign.

The group, formed this year with money from pharmaceutical executives, has spent about $1.4 million on cable TV ads since mid-September, and new ads keep coming. That dollar figure, estimated by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, puts RightChange as one of the most prominent anti-Obama groups out there these days, blowing away the amount of airtime bought by such liberal groups as MoveOn.org, Planned Parenthood and Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

In fact, RightChange has carved out a niche as the main group attacking Obama on tax policy -- as opposed to the Iraq war (Vets for Freedom's terrain) or controversial associations (American Issues Project) or abortion (Committee for Truth in Politics.)

Pharmaceutical Product Development CEO Fred Eshelman is so opposed to higher taxes, he dumped another $1.7 million into RightChange this month. That brings his total generosity to nearly $4.5 million. PPD's chair, Ernest Mario, has given $1 million. And last month a third executive chipped in. Robert Ingram, vice chair of pharmaceuticals for GlaxoSmithKline, gave $10,000.

One of RightChange's new ads says Obama's tax plan will "punish small businesses," echoing a talking point that McCain hammered over and over in the final presidential debate.

Another ad says...

Continue reading "Obama As The Tax Man" »

2:22 PM ET | 10-17-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Spending Against Spending

Talk about new spending.

The North Carolina pharmaceutical executives funding Rightchange.com are spending freely with yet another ad assailing Obama on cable TV. This one faults Obama for proposing $3.5 trillion in "new spending" over 10 years. The ad calls it "Barack Obama's Bailout." The tab, according to the ad, includes "tax giveaways to people who pay no taxes, new welfare handouts, tax rates as high as 54 percent."

The ad doesn't cite a source for the $3.5 trillion figure, but Factcheck.org notes that one analysis finds "Obama's tax plan would increase the debt by $3.5 trillion by 2018, while McCain's plan would bring about a projected $5 trillion increase in the same time frame." Then again, maybe that's not the study they meant to cite.

-- Will Evans

10:27 PM ET | 10-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Pharmaceutical Money Flows To Anti-Obama 527

RightChange.com, a conservative 527 group funded by two pharmaceutical executives, has unleashed a volley of attack ads bashing Obama on economic issues.

The group just reported $2.7 million in contributions from its president, Fred Eshleman, CEO of PPD, a pharmaceutical research firm in North Carolina. PPD's chairman, Ernest Mario, gave an additional $1 million. Mario also runs Capnia Inc., a Palo Alto, Calif.-based company developing a system to treat migraines using medical gas.

RightChange.com's other directors also have connections to the health industry. Board member Jeff Barnhart is CEO of Cabarrus Community Health Centers, which RightChange's corporate secretary, Fletcher Hartsell, helped found. Both Barnhart and Hartsell are Republican state legislators in North Carolina.

One of RightChange's new ads mocks Obama's rallying cry of "Yes we can." It says, "Will his tax plan reduce wages for millions of workers 17 percent?" Cut to a clip of Obama shouting his slogan. "Will Obama really raise taxes on tens of thousands of middle-class workers?" Roll the clip again.

RightChange is a political newcomer. It seemed to come out of nowhere last month, first with a bizarre ad most memorable for its bungee cord, then with a direct assault on Obama. And now this barrage.

More ads and fact-checking after the jump...

Continue reading "Pharmaceutical Money Flows To Anti-Obama 527" »

3:10 PM ET | 10- 2-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Enough With The Bungee-Jumping. Let's Attack.

It was just two weeks ago that RightChange.com from North Carolina ran this cryptic ad: Ordinary Joe stops traffic on bridge, delivers tax rant over bullhorn, then falls over the side... to be saved by the Bungee Cord of Magical Realism.

RightChange's real message was at its website: It says Barack Obama's tax plans are bad for Americans. And now the group has put message on the air, and in a much harsher -- and more slippery -- delivery than what appears online. A hasty viewing of the ad gives the impression that in an Obama administration, small businesses would pay tax rates of 62 percent.

RightChange presents this as a nationwide ad buy. We'll see later how much money they commit to it. The group intends to sidestep restrictions on campaign-season ads by telling viewers to call Obama's Senate office if they're unhappy with his presidential campaign.

-- Peter Overby

11:22 AM ET | 09-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Man Jumps From Bridge -- Doesn't Like Obama's Tax Plan

Well, this ad gets points for originality. A guy with a megaphone starts ranting:"Change -- yeah politicians promise change." He's on top of a bridge and gets so worked up that he stands precariously on the edge of it, saying, "Politicians are playing us for fools...and we're supposed to fall for it again?"

Then he falls, screaming, to the depths below...until the Bungee Cord Of Truth catches him and he says, dangling, "Change? Before you fall for it, get the facts."

If you didn't know that was an ad against Obama, you will find out soon enough if you go to RightChange.com, promoted at the end of the ad. There you will find "10 Things You Need to Know About Senator Obama's Tax Proposals." (None of them is good.)

The Web site cites the nonpartisan source FactCheck.org to attest to Obama's "willingness to raise taxes" -- which might be amusing to FactCheck, since the cite is taken out of context from a report on how McCain distorts Obama's positions. Other FactCheck.org reports contradict some RightChange.com assertions.

Anyway...RightChange.com is a 527 group formed in North Carolina this year after changing its name from Real Debate.org. Its president is Fred Eshelman, CEO of a pharmaceutical research firm. The Associated Press reports that Eshelman also bankrolls the group. Eshelman certainly can handle it -- he once gave $20 million to a university pharmacy program.

Other board members include two North Carolina Republican state legislators, Fletcher Hartsell and Jeffrey Barnhart.

-- Will Evans

9:40 AM ET | 09-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail