Independent Committees
Stealth Campaigns – Part Five
BY Sara Fritz | May 06, 2008
We may never know exactly why any American would contribute more than $20 million in a single year to influence a presidential election. That is because Bob Perry, a residential housing developer in Houston, Texas, refuses to explain his reasoning and investor George Soros is somewhat vague about his motives.
More >Stealth Campaigns – Part Four
BY Sara Fritz | May 05, 2008
Negativity has always posed a temptation for politicians, especially those who fear they are going to lose the election. Politicians claim to hate negative advertising, but they continue to use it. That’s why former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle once called negative advertising the “crack cocaine of politics.”
More >Stealth Campaigns – Part Three
BY Sara Fritz | May 02, 2008
So, with the 2008 presidential campaign headed for a record level of spending not only by the major party candidates but also independent groups that raise millions without disclosing their donors, how effective has the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002 been?
More >Stealth Campaigns – Part Two
BY Sara Fritz | May 01, 2008
[Editor’s note: MoveOn.org’s political action committee announced yesterday that it will spend a million dollars on a month-long ad campaign against Republican John McCain. The group has endorsed Democrat Barack Obama.]
As the 2008 presidential campaign cycle got going, the undisputed leader in the field of independent attack advertising was MoveOn.org, the liberal Democratic group with loads of money, a popular website, and more than 3 million registered members. As MoveOn.org grew in stature and influence, Republicans grew intensely anxious about the power of liberals to raise money, mobilize voters, and influence public opinion – and answered by launching Freedom’s Watch to fight back.
More >Stealth Campaigns
BY Sara Fritz | April 30, 2008
Their names roll off the tongue with a patriotic cadence: Freedom’s Watch, Democracy Alliance, Citizens United, Progress for America, Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America. These are the new giants of American politics, the well-funded groups organized behind a veil of secrecy to influence the voters’ choice for president of the United States in 2008.
Financed by many of the nation’s wealthiest investors and business leaders, as well as millions of small donors, these organizations are responsible for a flood of political attack advertising. Their work threatens to drown out the traditional voices of the Republican and Democratic parties and undercut the presidential candidates’ efforts to control their own messages.
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