GOP Donors Rush To Catch Liberal Groups

Washington Post: Republicans Scrambling To Catch Up After Left Builds Sophisticated Infrastructure

(WASHINGTONPOST.COM)  This story was written by Matthew Mosk.

---

With Sen. John McCain facing the prospect of being dramatically outspent in the race for the White House, a collection of major Republican donors and party leaders that includes former Bush strategist Karl Rove is scrambling to catch up with the efforts of liberal groups aiming to influence the outcome in November.

"The folks on the right may have a rude awakening when they see how sophisticated the infrastructure is that's been built up on the left," said Clifford May, who heads the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which could figure into the Republican effort. May, who said he has discussed the imbalance with Rove, added: "We're the little leagues compared to them."

Outside advocacy groups, most notably the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which dogged Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), played a pivotal role in the 2004 presidential contest. While individuals face strict limits on how much they can give directly to candidates for federal office and party organizations, many of the outside groups can accept unlimited donations and face a much lower bar for the disclosure of their activities.

This year, allies of President Bush such as Rove, billionaire T. Boone Pickens, New York financier Paul Singer and Florida developer Mel Sembler, who helped harness and direct millions of dollars to the 2004 campaign, are working to rekindle those efforts. But they are finding the 2008 landscape to be more challenging, according to Republican sources familiar with the ongoing talks.

Some donors have shied away from involving themselves in efforts to aid McCain, a persistent critic of back-channel campaign funds. Others have succumbed to the broader malaise among Republicans. Still others are skittish about heightened scrutiny from regulators who have vowed to crack down on outside efforts to influence this year's campaign.

"The soft-money landscape has changed," said Philip A. Musser, a Republican consultant advising the American Future Fund, another group that could play a central role in the 2008 elections. "There are a lot of organizations interested in taking on various slivers of this election, but nothing has coalesced around the presidential contest in the way we saw in 2004."

The Republican-allied organization once expected to play that role, Freedom's Watch, endured a tumultuous month of March, with a leadership change and internal disagreements about its direction. Now, the group appears poised to concentrate on competitive congressional contests. It has already run television ads in special elections for congressional seats in Ohio and Louisiana.

But a vacuum remains for Republicans in the presidential contest.

"I hear rumblings," said Brad Freeman, a Bush donor in California. "People keep asking the question, 'What are we going to do this time?' "

Sembler, a big Bush donor and former finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, confirmed that he and others are working to identify a group that could help shape the agenda for the presidential campaign and steer major donors to it. A motivating factor, he said, is the sense that Democrats are much further along in their efforts.

"They are very organized. They started a whole lot earlier," Sembler said. "We are not quite as organized. But our efforts are still going forward."

During the 2004 presidential race, Democratic operatives built what amounted to a shadow party machinery from scratch. This time around, their plans center on groups that are already up and running, with names such as the Atlas Project, America Votes, Fund for America and Progressive Media USA.

Last week, Progressive Media USA launched the first of what it said would be $40 million worth of advertising casting McCain as a third act of the Bush presidency.

A Democratic-aligned umbrella group, America Votes, is overseeing activities by about 40 organizations, each with its own target audience. One of them, Women Voices Women Vote Action Fund, says it will dedicate nearly $30 million to register unmarried women. Another, MoveOn.org, plans to spend $10 million prodding progressive voters in suburban and exurban communities to vote. America Votes will attempt to ensure that each group targets different voters and will help provide organizations with access to mailing lists and voter data.

"We're full steam ahead," said Eli Pariser, MoveOn's executive director.

Fund for America is raising money for the combined efforts and has taken in contributions of more than $11 million so far. Some of its funds will come from billionaire George Soros, a perennial patron of Democratic causes, said Michael Vachon, who manages Soros's political contributions. Vachon noted that although Soros has committed $3.5 million to Fund for America, he "does not intend to become involved on anywhere near the level that he became involved in 2004."

[vincan-2009]

McCain was not the one that most republicans wanted. He is not a candidate that we can be fooled about like Bush. He is not a candidate that we don''t have lots and lots of critical things we know and and can say about him. War mongering has lost a lot appeal for the average American. We will not be fooled again by lies of the liars. It will be a democrat for president, hopefully Obama. We can''t afford or tolerate another republican president who is in love with the richest people and lobbyists.

[whitepicks2]

The War party supporters appear to be afraid to donate to a sure loser. Or is it that they have wrecked the economy so badly they are holding back and fattening their mattresses?

[obama8years]

Search YouTube.com "Obama to Shut Down America"



youtube.com/watch?v= waz57ce_hl0

Not only is Obama have Hamas ties but from his own words wants to destroy our military strength.

youtube.com/watch?v= waz57ce_hl0

VIDEO IS OF OBAMA SPEAKING....he is a nut job.

[dante805]

Now that McCain has come back to earth and is talking REP values like Ronald Reagan - I''ll be sending my $100 today - $50 to McCain and $50 to RNC.

[the74blaster]

The Republican party options are RIP or rename the party.

Posted by lovegetpeace,

Maybe they should get some paper bags and put them over head. I know that if I was a GOP supported I would be rather embarrassed, considering their record of achievements over the last 7 plus years..

[mcvet]

Oh? Like Liberals don''''t call themselves Liberals, but "Progressives"?
Or maybe Republicans will do like Dembots did back in ''''94 and ''''96 Midterm elections when Dembot candidates wouldn''''t even put the word "Democrat" in their campaign advertising?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by hawksprings at 06:59 PM : Apr 21, 2008
+ report abuse

You Nazi''s have been licking boots way to long there sparky! You get complete control of the Government, make a complete mess of the whole thing and expect people just to march in a re-elect you morons because YOU call someone a Liberal. It didn''t work with Truman, it didn''t work with Kennedy and it''s not going to work this time. Maybe in 40 to 50 years you can again show your face in public but for now??? YOU ARE TOAST! Sieg Heil Bush

[kansas1946]

WHen you consider your Options Mccain is the only choice , and America knows this.Posted by obama8years at 06:53 PM : Apr 21, 2008
**************************************


Really. I have been an American for 62 years, and McCain would be my last choice. I supported him in 2000, but not now. He supported this evil invasion of Iraq, and supports it still. He has lied about the conditions there (remember his "stroll" in the "safe" market with helecoptors overhead and ten or twelve armed soldiers protecting him in his full flack gear) Yes, that is just a typical day at the market in a safe enviornment. He has lost his center because he is desparate for the Whitehouse.

[irliberal]

Posted by hawksprings at 06:59 PM

Hmm you sound pretty bitter to me. Sounds like Obama got you pegged! LOL!

[hawksprings]

"The Republican party options are RIP or rename the party."
Posted by lovegetpeace

Oh? Like Liberals don''t call themselves Liberals, but "Progressives"?
Or maybe Republicans will do like Dembots did back in ''94 and ''96 Midterm elections when Dembot candidates wouldn''t even put the word "Democrat" in their campaign advertising?

[obama8years]

WHen you consider your Options Mccain is the only choice , and America knows this.


canadafreepress.com/index.php/ article/2462
OBAMA TIES TO HAMAS....(Why doesnt the News Report this!!!) Same reason they didnt report rev wright till a year later.


If Barack Obama didn%u2019t know about Abunimah%u2019s writings (and Abunimah says he did), the same as his claims of being unaware of Reverend Wright%u2019s remarks after 20 years, then Obama is not competent to be our President. Abunimah likes to lie and claim Al Awda has nothing to do with the ISM or Electronic Intifada, though plenty of evidence exists on the website the homepage at www.StoptheISM.com showing the contrary.

But Obama%u2019s association with the ISM through his church and lobbying in Chicago goes even deeper than just his past links to Al Awda and Ali Abunimah. His pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, are both equally involved with the ISM.

[kansas1946]

Poor Republicans. Maybe they will all go bankrupt trying to get this inferior candidate elected. Good.

[lovegetpeace]

The Republican party options are RIP or rename the party.

[Razzl]

The logic of the Rove theory leads them here:

1. win the election for Bush by taking extreme positions that will **** off everyone except hardcore bible-thumping rural right-wingers, because they will turn out and give you a narrow victory;
2. hold onto those extreme positions as your centrist voters defect because now you have no hope of winning through any strategy other than 100% turnout by your "base" (2006);
3. notice that you are now lost and unable to raise any money because your "base" is too small and too poor; scramble to undo #1 and #2 above...