McCain Campaign To Take Out $3M Loan

(AP)  Republican John McCain, climbing in polls but lagging in money, is negotiating a $3 million loan while some of his backers launch an independent advertising effort seemingly at odds with his years of fighting outside influence in campaigns.

The ad campaign, financed by contributions from undisclosed donors, drew a prompt rebuke from McCain.

"I condemn them," he told The Associated Press on Friday. "They are a violation of everything I believe in."

Steps under way inside and outside McCain's campaign indicate a degree of urgency as the first nominating contests draw near and as he shows signs of resurgence after a dismal spring and summer.

Campaign aides said they hoped to finalize arrangements within days for a line of credit of about $3 million to help pay for expenses as well as for ads, mailings and other means of voter contact. The campaign also is considering taking public matching funds, but some aides fear the attached spending limits could hinder McCain if he does secure the nomination.

Separately, a newly created group was airing an ad Friday in South Carolina that portrays the Arizona senator and two of his congressional allies as "leaders who share our priorities" of supporting funds for U.S. troops and opposing pork-barrel spending.

"I have no clue about it," McCain said in a brief interview while campaigning in Meredith, N.H. "I didn't know they were doing them. I didn't even know about it until a short time ago."

In a statement issued later, McCain added: "If anyone considering an outside expenditure thinks they are benefiting me, I would prefer they do not air the ads. If there are ads up, I believe they should come down."

Financed mainly by McCain backers, the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America was created with the help of Republican admaker Rick Reed. He called himself a volunteer with McCain's presidential effort earlier this year, and he is close to McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis.

McCain wrote a strict 2002 campaign finance law and has criticized independent advertising in the past. His aides said they had no knowledge of or involvement in any outside efforts.

Reed is not new to independent advertising efforts during presidential campaigns. He was the media strategist who co-produced a series of ads in 2004 by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, who questioned Democratic nominee John Kerry's service in Vietnam. McCain, at the time, condemned those ads.

"I condemned them when they were swift boat ads. I condemn them now," McCain said.

The new group, a 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation under IRS regulations, is not required to disclose its donors, unlike political campaign and political action committees the Federal Election Commission covers.

Reed would not disclose how much has been raised or the identity of donors. Asked if they were McCain supporters, he said, "Some are, maybe even all at this point."

He said the group is designed to promote a strong national security, limits in spending and vigorous anti-terrorism efforts while identifying leaders who best reflect the group's positions.

"Right now Senator McCain seems to be the closest to the group's views," Reed said. Others, he said, include South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and Arizona Rep. John Shadegg; both appear in the first ad and both have endorsed McCain.

A disclaimer at the bottom of the group's Web site states: "As a qualified nonprofit organization, Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America may on occasion use some of its funds for political purposes such as supporting or opposing persons who happen to be candidates."

Said McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker: "The McCain campaign does not coordinate with any outside groups that are making or planning to make independent expenditures in the presidential election."

The campaign paid Reed's firm $1,690 in May for what aides said was archival McCain footage from the 2000 campaign that was in the firm's possession. Aides said the firm has provided no services for McCain's 2008 bid.

Reed's effort could be the first of several independent ventures that could help McCain. Other supporters and donors have been discussing how to expand his advertising reach in key early nominating states. Backers of other presidential hopefuls also are contemplating independent efforts to boost their candidates.

Such steps allow major fundraisers and donors of candidates who have already given the maximum allowed by law to individual campaigns to assist their candidates by putting money into other entities.

By organizing itself as a nonprofit 501(c)4 organization, the Foundation for a Secure and Prosperous America can raise unlimited amounts of money for its ads without disclosing its donors or details of its spending. Under Internal Revenue Service regulations it can engage in political activity provided that is not the sole purpose of its existence.

The ad does not mention McCain's candidacy, but it does show pictures of him and flash his name. Broadly, the ad focuses on promoting military funding legislation in Congress and calling on viewers to urge Congress to approve.

Any independent ad campaign has to be unaffiliated to the McCain campaign and organizers would be prohibited by law from discussing their plans with McCain or his staff.

Reed said the group is abiding by the law, and that he had not spoken with the campaign since his firm ended an affiliation with it early this year.

Still, such a separate organization could undermine McCain's image as a campaign finance reformer by creating the appearance that McCain backers are exploiting loopholes in the law.

McCain was one of the authors of a 2002 campaign finance law that ended the ability of national parties to collect unlimited contributions known as soft money. McCain also has criticized the emergence of other nonprofit groups, known as "527" organizations, that have skirted campaign finance laws and raised millions in unlimited money from wealthy donors.

"On the one hand, he's obviously always been a strong proponent of campaign finance reform," said Dan Schnur, a Republican strategist who worked on McCain's 2000 campaign but who is unaffiliated now. "On the other hand, I know he doesn't believe in unilateral disarmament either."

McCain is considering accepting public matching funds for his campaign. At this point, he would be eligible for $5 million, but aides said McCain has made no decision on whether to seek the money. McCain is the only Republican at the top of the presidential field who has taken steps to obtain the public funds. By accepting the money, McCain would have to restrict his spending in primary states, placing him at a potential disadvantage against better-financed rivals.

Once considered the GOP front-runner, McCain found himself all but broke and languishing in polls at summer's end. As fall began, his fortunes improved, and he now senses opportunity, particularly in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

The compressed primary calendar has increased pressure on his campaign to capitalize on his improved standing — and spend heavily on television ads. The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 3 and could be followed promptly by the New Hampshire primary. Michigan is considering holding a primary Jan. 15, followed by South Carolina on Jan. 19.

McCain ended the third quarter of the year with $3.5 million, $1.7 million of which was available for the primaries. He also reported a debt of $1.7 million.

He's been running ads in New Hampshire, recently expanding to the expensive Boston market, but he has been unable to afford to go on the air in South Carolina, though advisers say he will soon. The campaign is also conducting direct mail campaigns in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Aides and fundraisers for McCain said donors are beginning to open up their wallets again and the campaign is raising money faster than it is spending it.

Aides said the line of credit would be secured by campaign assets and would give the campaign more flexibility. As opposed to an outright loan, a line of credit would permit the campaign to use part of the amount, depending on its needs.

"We don't have to do it. We think it would improve our competitiveness if we do it," Davis said. "This helps us manage the cash flow."

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL WILL RESTORE U.S. SOVEREIGNTY
All of the trade deals and world government organizations, which all of the presidential candidates support (except Ron Paul), such as the ICC, NAFTA, GATT, WTO, and CAFTA, are all a major threat to our nation''s sovereignty. They transfer power from our government to unelected foreign elites. The ICC wants to try our soldiers as war criminals. Both the WTO and CAFTA could force Americans to get a prescription to take herbs and vitamins. The WTO has forced Congress to change our laws to meet their needs, and not our own. If anything, the WTO makes trade relations worse by giving foreign competitors a new way to attack U.S. jobs. The NAFTA superhighway, being built by a Spanish company, is just one part of a plan to erase our borders and create the North American Union, a single nation State like the EU, out of Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, with a new, unelected bureaucracy and money system. Forget about controlling immigration under the NAU scheme. There won''t be any borders anymore, or a free America. Our limited, constitutional government will be gone forever. Let''s not forget the UN either. It wants to impose a direct Carbon Tax on us. Ron Paul successfully fought this move in Congress last year, but if we are going to stop ongoing attempts of this world government body to rule over us, we need someone in the White House who knows how to say "No." We must withdraw from any organizations or treaty that infringes upon our nation''s sovereignty.

[nextprophet]

WE ARE ALL SLAVES
I can''t help but laugh when I see some of these ridiculous posts by these racial provocateurs in here who try to point their dirty fingers at Ron Paul, when he doesn''t have a racist bone in his body. He''s not only a well-known Libertarian idealist who supports more civil rights and liberties for everyone, he''s also a devout Christian who reads his Bible everyday and believes, as I do, that all people on this Earth were created equal in the eyes of God. We all need to stand together, united as brothers and sisters in a common cause to achieve REAL FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE. Currently, we all live under a thumb of control which is pressed-down onto us by a tiny, elite group of oligarchs who really control the world in which we live. Whether you''re a black, white, brown and red, it makes no difference. We are all slaves to the elite. Also, I find it truly ironic how you brainwashed socialists could claim the nonsense you do about Ron Paul when your hero, Hillary Clinton, is the consummate elitist. She''s a Bilderberger, for Pete''s sake. The Bilderbergers are a tiny group of about 130 people (mostly royalty, heads of industry and major political figures) who meet in secret each year at different locations around the world in order to orchestrate public policy worldwide. Their agenda: continued economic and political domination; one world government; and a drastic reduction in the worldwide population of certain racial and genetic groups (eugenics). That''s irony!

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL SETS NEW GOP FUNDRAISING RECORD
Freedom is apparently popular, folks. I''m glad it is. In just 24 hours (on Nov 5, 2007), Ron Paul raised over $4,200,000 in grass roots donations from his supporters nationwide, eclipsing Mitt Romney''s previous one-day (Republican) record of $3.1 million. Do the math folks. Ron Paul certainly isn''t getting any money from the bankers or the military industrial complex like all the sold-out, New World Order candidates on the left and the right who pretend to be his equal. He''s getting support from millions of people who share in his Hope For America.

[candide777]

.........Nice try! First of all I thank you for another opportunity to expose your Big Brother hype of standing behind the countries founding fathers. It''''''''s apparent you are a teacher/student of the antithetical principals of a civic textbook called "We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution". . . . .blah, blah, blah, blah . . .

Posted by cfin5 at 01:17 PM : Nov 11, 2007

You didn''''t present a single argument, just totally unsubstantiated ad hominem attacks, which seems to be all you are capable of. I''''ve never heard of the "textbook" to which you refer. I don''''t have much use for dumb-downed versions of those texts, which you apparently rely upon. I bet you didn''''t know this, but their actual writings are still in print!! You can read the real McCoy! That''''s what I did in college. I totally ignored the BS propaganda that our right wing professor use so spew out during his lectures in an effort to convert us all into gun-nut naziis. Still got an A. It was amusing watching him bend, twist and stretch their words in an effort to get their texts to support his own personal political agenda, much the way you try to do on this website, except your arguments appear to be void of any of their original texts. Go Ron Paul, I will follow you into the bowels of hell, for you are my Lord and Saviour! LOL!

[candide777]

IS RON PAUL A WHITE SUPREMACIST?

A LoneStarTimes.com investigation has conclusively established that a leading figure in the American neo-Nazi / White-Supremacist movement has provided financial support to Ron Paul%u2019s 2008 Presidential campaign.

At the very least, will Paul personally state publicly, vigorously and unmistakably that he rejects the support of white supremacists, and that he will not knowingly tolerate their involvement with his campaign in any form or to any degree?

Source:
http://lonestartimes.com/20
07/10/25/rpb1/

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL CAN WIN THE ELECTION
Ron Paul can win the GOP nomination. If he does, I predict a landslide victory in November of 2008. Even the oddsmakers in Vegas aren''t willing to discount his chances. They''re currently giving him 3:1 odds to win against Hitlery if he gets the nomination. Romney, McCain and the globalist, sell-out Giuliani aren''t given anything better than a 35:1 chance of winning if they get the GOP nod. All it takes is for formerly apathetic individuals to get off the couch and nominate him in their local Republican primary or caucus process. Political parties are nothing more than tools. Those who read the manual and use the tools properly will win the nomination for their candidate. For the past 20 years, many good people have stayed at home and accepted whatever candidate they let others select for them. This year, those people are learning how to use their vote to make a difference. In order to do so, you must participate in the Republican primary election or caucus process in your county, precinct or district. Nothing else matters. If we do this, we win. If not, we lose. The GOP has been suffering from declining participation for decades. Fewer than 10% of registered voters have ALL the power because they actually participate. Now the remaining 90% must surge to use their vote as a tool to bring about positive and long overdue political change in this country. The time to act is now. The time for political revolution has come. The time for Ron Paul is NOW!

[nextprophet]

CBS NEWS PREJUDICED AGAINST RON PAUL
Most people can see right through the prejudice CBS News obviously has towards Ron Paul. In the few times they''ve covered him at all, I''m suprised they didn''t have one of their graphics artists Photoshop some devil horns on top of his head in that worst ever photograph they always use of him. CBS obviously thinks that if they pretend Paul isn''t a top-tier GOP candidate, then their readers and viewers will eventually think so too. Whenever they are forced to do a story on Paul, because some other mainstream source is covering him for some reason, the fact that their editors work overtime to slant their stories in such a way as to either marginalize his accomplishment, or present Paul in the most negative light possible, is obvious to anyone with a modicum of intelligence. "What about their polls?," you ask? As far as the CBS News poll is concerned, they don''t even include Paul on the list of GOP candidates which pollees can choose from, and then afterwards, report to you that Paul doesn''t even rank in their final tally. Ron Paul is getting major grass roots support nationwide. He has over 60,498 meetup group members in 1,155 Groups from 904 cities nationwide, with another 7,033 people more folks just waiting to hear when a new meetup group will start near them. He''s won ALL of the viewer phone-in polls in ALL of the GOP debates he''s been in, and has raised more money ($4.2 million) in one day than any other GOP candidate ever. Go Ron Go!

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL FAVORS NON-INTERVENTIONIST FOREIGN POLICY
All of the other presidential candidates wants to continue our illegal police action in Iraq indefinitely, and they do not rule out a preemptive (nuclear) first strike against Iran. Conversely, Ron Paul voted against our (undeclared) war in Iraq, which was sold to us with lies. The area is more dangerous now than when we entered it. We destroyed a regime hated by our direct enemies--the jihadists, and created thousands of new recruits for them. The war in Iraq has cost more than 3,500 American lives and almost a trillion dollars. We need a leader in the White House who will ensure this never happens again. Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have 750 foreign bases and troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft. We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing our borders against illegal aliens who are invading us from the South. No war should ever be fought without a Declaration of War voted upon by the Congress, as required by The Constitution. Under no circumstances should the U.S. again go to war as the result of a resolution that comes from an unelected, foreign body, such as the United Nations. Too often, we give foreign aid and intervene on behalf of governments that are despised. Then, we become despised.

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL FIGHTS FOR THE RIGHT TO LIFE
Unlike Clinton and the so-called GOP frontrunner, Giuliani, Dr. Paul fights for the right of an innocent, unborn child. He believes the right to life is at the heart of the American ideals of liberty. His professional and legislative record demonstrates his strong commitment to this pro-life principle. In 40 years of medical practice, he never once considered performing an abortion, nor did he ever find abortion necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman. In Congress, he authored legislation that seeks to define life as beginning at conception (HR 1094). He is also the prime sponsor of HR 300, which would negate the effect of Roe v Wade by removing the ability of federal courts to interfere with state legislation to protect life. This is a practical, direct approach to ending federal court tyranny which threatens our constitutional republic and has caused the deaths of 45 million of the unborn. He also authored HR 1095, which prevents federal funds to be used for population control. Many other GOP candidates, except Giuliani, talk about being pro-life. Ron Paul took direct action to restore protection for the unborn. As an OB/GYN doctor, he delivered over 4,000 babies. That experience made him an unshakable foe of abortion. Many of you may have his book, Challenge To Liberty, which champions the idea that there cannot be liberty in a society unless the rights of all innocents are protected. Ron Paul respects the dignity of human life.

[nextprophet]

RON PAUL KNOWS HOW TO STOP ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked. Ron Paul has a plan: (1.) Physically secure our borders and coastlines. We must do whatever it takes to control entry into our country before we undertake complicated immigration reform proposals. (2.) Enforce Visa rules. Immigration officials must track Visa holders and deport anyone who overstays their Visa or otherwise violates U.S. Law. This is especially important when we recall that a number of 9/11 terrorists had expired Visas. (3.) No amnesty. Estimates suggest that 10 to 20 million people are in our country illegally. That''s a lot of people to reward for breaking our Laws. (4.) No welfare for illegal aliens. Americans have welcomed immigrants who seek opportunity, work hard, and play by the rules, but taxpayers should not pay for illegal immigrants who use hospitals, clinics, schools, roads, and social services. (5.) End birthright citizenship. As long as illegal immigrants know their children born here will be citizens, the incentive to enter the U.S. illegally will remain strong. (6.) Pass true immigration reform. The current system, and those proposed by ALL other candidates, is incoherent and unfair, and would allow up to 60 million more immigrants into our country.