Liberal Giving Has GOP Terrified

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and his Democratic allies have raised almost twice as much money as the Bush-Cheney campaign so far this year, according to recent government filings.

Twenty-one of the largest Democratic-allied 527 groups — named after a section of the tax code — raised nearly $57 million in the first three months of this year, according to reports filed last week with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and sorted by fundraising watchdog groups such as PoliticalMoneyLine.com and the Center for Public Integrity.

Yesterday, at a closed-door meeting of trade associations hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on get-out-the-vote practices, Ken Mehlman, manager of the Bush-Cheney campaign, decried the impact of the soft-money groups.

“Thanks to 527s, we will be outspent by the Democrats,” said Mehlman, according to a participant who took notes of the meeting. “MoveOn.org is a huge threat and has hurt the president. Every action makes a difference.”

So far this year, the groups have spent close to $52 million, much of it on television ads and other campaign activities designed to affect the presidential race and other federal contests. At the beginning of April, the Kerry campaign announced it had raised $50 million during the first three months of the year.

Approximately $14 million of the $15 million raised by the Joint Victory Campaign, a joint fundraising committee for the Media Fund and Americans Coming Together (ACT), was disbursed to those to groups, according to Political MoneyLine.com, making their fundraising totals appear greater.

Nevertheless, the groups’ fundraising total for 2004 is likely to come close to matching the Bush-Cheney campaign.

The constellation of groups includes the Joint Victory Campaign 2004, ACT, the Media Fund, MoveOn.org Voter Fund, the New Democratic Network, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees.

By contrast, the few Republican-aligned 527s in operation that are expected to affect the White House and congressional races have raised paltry amounts.

The most successful group, The Club for Growth, raised $953,000 during the first quarter, bringing its fundraising total for the cycle to $3.6 million. The Leadership Forum, a group that GOP strategists had envisioned as the “go-to” fundraising organization for House Republicans raised a mere $101,000 since January. That total put it far behind the College Republican National Committee’s $1.1 million effort. As it turns out, the college Republican group was one of the most prolific GOP-inclined soft-money groups.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) raised $5 million in the first quarter, but the new campaign-finance law makes it extremely difficult for the RGA to have an impact on federal races because it is a state political party and subject to stricter rules than other 527s.

The torrid fundraising pace of Kerry and his allies gives new urgency to GOP efforts to halt the bulk of these fundraising efforts through either the FEC rulemaking process or a federal court order. Republicans contend that by relying on outside 527 groups Democrats are breaking the law and participating in a massive conspiracy.

el - What massive conspiracy, the people are uniting and opening their pocketbooks to throw the S.O.B. out!