Kerry and 527 Connections

[Annie]

GOP was slammed by NYT 5 page article regarding such tenuous connections as some Texan's gave $ to the Swift Vets and had supported Bush. Oh wow, like those who didn't support Bush would be giving $? d'oh!

Well here is one site that has put together more than tenuous connections with DNC and 527's-including an admission that THEY are COORDINATING!

http://www.blogsforbush.com/mt/archives/001759.html#001759

 

[insein]

I won't be holding my breath for the NYT 5 page story on this one.

 

[Annie]

I won't be holding my breath for the NYT 5 page story on this one.

But people are noticing the non-coverage. It's showing up in the polls. Mainstream media is ignoring at their own peril.

 

[britinusa]

If the Bush campaign is really pulling the SwiftVet strings, don't you think they would have given them a lot more money? The SwiftVets ran their first ad in just three states! How much did it cost them? $250,000. They've raised double that during the last three weeks, only because they managed to get some light shining on them, thanks to the blogosphere.
They held a press conference in May. The media ignored them. They had no option but to save up enough money to BUY some TV time. It took them three months to scrape together enough money. If Karl Rove WAS collaborating with them, he did a lousy job.
By the way, if a 527 group called, let's say, Texas National Guard Veterans For The Truth (TexVets) had held a press conference in May in order to hammer Bush, would the media have ignored them? Would they have needed to BUY TV time?

 

[Annie]

If the Bush campaign is really pulling the SwiftVet strings, don't you think they would have given them a lot more money? The SwiftVets ran their first ad in just three states! How much did it cost them? $250,000. They've raised double that during the last three weeks, only because they managed to get some light shining on them, thanks to the blogosphere.
They held a press conference in May. The media ignored them. They had no option but to save up enough money to BUY some TV time. It took them three months to scrape together enough money. If Karl Rove WAS collaborating with them, he did a lousy job.
By the way, if a 527 group called, let's say, Texas National Guard Veterans For The Truth (TexVets) had held a press conference in May in order to hammer Bush, would the media have ignored them? Would they have needed to BUY TV time?

Good points all! There is no doubt that so far, the Democrats have much more 527 $ coming in. Today, the WSJ has an editorial on that very subject:

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110005514

Excerpts:

JOHN FUND ON THE TRAIL

Why We're Refighting Vietnam
Blame McCain-Feingold.

Monday, August 23, 2004 12:01 a.m.

How did we get into this mess? Much of the presidential campaign this month has been consumed with a dispute about whether John Kerry told tall tales about his service in Vietnam 35 years ago.
The media were similarly fixated on ancient history several months ago, after filmmaker Michael Moore, at a Wesley Clark rally, labeled President Bush "a deserter" and Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe said the president had been "AWOL" during his service in the Texas Air National Guard. Mr. Bush had to produce his dental records to quiet the storm. Now in response to the anti-Kerry ad by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, MoveOn.org is airing an ad accusing Mr. Bush of using family ties to evade serving overseas during Vietnam.

....

It's fair to say that the so-called campaign finance reform that Mr. Bush signed into law in 2002 will result in more money being plowed into negative advertising during this campaign than ever before. The McCain-Feingold law was supposed to curb the influence of big money in politics. Instead, it has led to an avalanche of money landing in the coffers of so-called 527 groups. The name comes from the section of the tax code that allows independent groups to raise and spend as much as they want on political ads so long as they don't expressly advocate a candidate or coordinate their campaign with political parties or candidates.
So far, the 527 action has mostly been on the Democratic side. Billionaire financier George Soros has given some $15 million to such liberal 527 advocacy groups as MoveOn.org and America Coming Together. Together, such groups have spent more than $50 million on Bush-bashing TV ads they claim were not coordinated at all with the Kerry campaign. Now the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, backed by money from Republican donors, have produced two anti-Kerry ads questioning his service in Vietnam and his subsequent career as an antiwar activist who charged U.S. soldiers with committing atrocities.

....

Indeed, for all the effort that has gone into trying to establish a link between the Swift Boat anti-Kerry ads and such Bush aides as Karl Rove, the even closer connections between liberal 527s and the Kerry campaign have gone largely unremarked. No Bush 527 has donors who have given nearly as much as the millions that Mr. Soros or investment analyst Peter Lewis have given to liberal groups. Jim Jordan, a former Kerry campaign manager, is now the spokesman for the Media Fund, the biggest liberal 527. Zack Exley, the former Internet director of MoveOn.org, now performs the same tasks for the Kerry campaign.

...

 

[britinusa]

Thanks, Kathianne

I've been watching the talk shows all weekend. I just listened to a Kerry guy on Fox News this morning. They are hilarious. For months, they've been using Kerry's four months in Vietnam as a shield to deflect criticisms of Kerry's pathetic Senate record. They hardly mentioned his 19 years in the Senate at the Reinvention Convention (as Sean Hannity called it). Now they're yelling "Yes! Yes! Let's talk about his Senate record! Please! Please! No more Vietnam! Please!"
It is so funny.

 

[Annie]

It will be interesting to see where the polls go this week, leading into the GOP Convention. I'm curious how the protestors will come off, as reading Indymedia posts, they are threatening everything from Maltov Cocktails to messing with the bomb sniffing police dogs.

The Kerry train seems a bit derailed, let's hope it stays that way!

 

[britinusa]

It will be interesting to see where the polls go this week, leading into the GOP Convention. I'm curious how the protestors will come off, as reading Indymedia posts, they are threatening everything from Maltov Cocktails to messing with the bomb sniffing police dogs.

The Kerry train seems a bit derailed, let's hope it stays that way!

Yes, for the first time ever the Dems will view the GOP convention as a blessed relief. But I'm worried the protestors will crank up the violence even more in an effort to get the SwiftVets out of the spotlight. You know how it works: the protestors incite the violence and blame the NYPD for their heavyhandedness. And you know whose side the media will take.

 

[Jimmyeatworld]

If the Bush campaign is really pulling the SwiftVet strings, don't you think they would have given them a lot more money? The SwiftVets ran their first ad in just three states! How much did it cost them? $250,000. They've raised double that during the last three weeks, only because they managed to get some light shining on them, thanks to the blogosphere.
They held a press conference in May. The media ignored them. They had no option but to save up enough money to BUY some TV time. It took them three months to scrape together enough money. If Karl Rove WAS collaborating with them, he did a lousy job.
By the way, if a 527 group called, let's say, Texas National Guard Veterans For The Truth (TexVets) had held a press conference in May in order to hammer Bush, would the media have ignored them? Would they have needed to BUY TV time?

That's the same kind of thing I've been thinking. Seems like the Bush people would have done more to cover things if they were directly involved, like make sure the donations were anonymous or at least presented that way. It's all just more of the Clinton-like argument that everything that goes against them must be a "right wing conspiracy". Forget the fact that there are more things pointing to a Kerry connection with MoveOn.org.

 

[dilloduck]

The truth is taking it's last breath. Everyone knows that lies are ruling the media and people believe what they want. Obvious lies get a pass it they burst someones fantasy bubble. People have ranted for months about the abundance of lies and distortions but have you ever seen anything overtly certified as a lie and anyone held responsible for it? If so, it has disappeared from media microscope faster than you can say 'David Copperfield'.

I personally feel the truth is vital for the health of anything and see the lack of it as a plague that America will pay for dearly.

 

[tim_duncan2000]

Indeed, for all the effort that has gone into trying to establish a link between the Swift Boat anti-Kerry ads and such Bush aides as Karl Rove, the even closer connections between liberal 527s and the Kerry campaign have gone largely unremarked. No Bush 527 has donors who have given nearly as much as the millions that Mr. Soros or investment analyst Peter Lewis have given to liberal groups. Jim Jordan, a former Kerry campaign manager, is now the spokesman for the Media Fund, the biggest liberal 527. Zack Exley, the former Internet director of MoveOn.org, now performs the same tasks for the Kerry campaign.

The Kerry campaign has got some nerve. How can they talk about how Bush is somehow linked to these ads because the O'Neill has given money to Republicans when people like Soros have given millions and when there are much clearer connections between a lot of these groups and the Kerry campaign?

 

[freeandfun1]

. . . .How can they talk about how Bush is somehow linked to these ads because the O'Neill has given money to Republicans when people like Soros have given millions and when there are much clearer connections between a lot of these groups and the Kerry campaign?

Because the media lets em. The media perpetuates them. The media covers it up. I have never been so ANTI media in all my life. It is sooooo obvious the majority of the media has jumped on the ABB bandwagon and they are trying to singlehandedly influence the outcome of this election.

 

[Annie]

Funding of Swiftvets; here's something that puts it in perspective, go to the link, the graphics are awesome. Even a person retarded in Math like myself, can get it:

Excerpt:

http://www.truthlaidbear.com/archives/2004/08/22/527s_in_perspective.php#001354

527's in Perspective
August 22, 2004 07:20 AM
"They're funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor out of Texas. They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you everything you need to know -- he wants them to do his dirty work." --- John Kerry on Swift Boat Veterans for Truth

Perhaps the indispensible OpenSecrets.org might show us some perspective on the Swift Boat Veteran's "527":

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
Receipts: $ 158,750

OpenSecrets.org Description: "SBVT represents Vietnam Swift boat veterans who are critical of Democrat John Kerry's decision to make his military service a major part of his campaign for president. The group questions Kerry's record in Vietnam and denounces his anti-war activities following his military service. The group's donors include some major Republican contributors."

It sure is a good thing that Kerry doesn't have any 527's doing his dirty work. Except these, of course:

Media Fund
Receipts: $ 28,127,488
OpenSecrets.org Description: "One of the leading Democratic interest groups dedicated to defeating President Bush in November. Plans to raise close to $100 million for a massive issue-ad campaign to support the Democratic presidential nominee. The ads will air in 17 battleground states."

America Coming Together
Receipts: $26,905,450
OpenSecrets.org Description: "One of the leading Democratic interest groups dedicated to defeating President Bush in November. Run by longtime Democratic operatives and financed in part by wealthy Democratic donors, the group plans a massive voter mobilization effort in 17 battleground states."

MoveOn.org
Receipts: $9,086,102
OpenSecrets.org Description: "Begun in 1998 to protest the impeachment of President Clinton, the group has become a powerful political force since then. Its political action committee, the MoveOn PAC, spends millions of dollars to support the election of Democratic candidates. The MoveOn.org Voter Fund is raising soft money, which may be contributed in unlimited amounts, for TV ads in key battleground states that are critical of President Bush."

(Emphasis mine)

And oh yeah, these too:

Service Employees International Union: $ 16,652,296
American Fedn of St/Cnty/Munic Employees: $ 13,658,207
New Democrat Network: $ 7,172,693
Voices For Working Families: $ 3,668,280
Partnership for America's Families: $ 3,071,211

For a little visual perspective on a few of the top Democratic 527's compared to SBVT, click 'MORE...' below for the full entry.

 

[5stringJeff]

And the Democrats have admitted to coordinating with moveon.org and other 527s... and they are the ones throwing allegations?!?

 

[tpahl]

And the Democrats have admitted to coordinating with moveon.org and other 527s... and they are the ones throwing allegations?!?

Regardless of what the law says, kerry should be able to corridnate with them as should Bush, Badnarik and all the other presidential candidates. The fact that they can not is because of the horrible McCain Feingold incumbent protection act signed into law by Bush.

Travis

 

[5stringJeff]

Regardless of what the law says, kerry should be able to corridnate with them as should Bush, Badnarik and all the other presidential candidates. The fact that they can not is because of the horrible McCain Feingold incumbent protection act signed into law by Bush.

Travis

Travis, I absolutely agree. I think that McCain-Feingold's CFR is the worst law passed in America since the Sedition Acts.

However, given that it is currently law, and given that Kerry is complaining about connections between the Bush Campaign and the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, the Democrats' admitted connections with moveon.org and other 527's is quite damning indeed.

 

[tpahl]

Travis, I absolutely agree. I think that McCain-Feingold's CFR is the worst law passed in America since the Sedition Acts.

However, given that it is currently law, and given that Kerry is complaining about connections between the Bush Campaign and the Swift Boat Vets for Truth, the Democrats' admitted connections with moveon.org and other 527's is quite damning indeed.

No. Their admited connections are not damning. They are honorable. I respect people that ignore bad laws. In fact that is probably the only action by those two candidates in this whole debate that is commendable.

What is damning is his complaining about Bush campaigns connections. And also it is damning for Bush that he has first of all signed the mccain feingold act, And now even more damning that he is calling for even more restricitons.

Travis