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Obama Backers File Complaint With FEC to Block Hillary Ads

By Jeralyn

I guess Obama supporters don't support the right of other groups to get a message out to voters. (Background here.) Via the Wall St. Journal:

Three supporters of the Illinois Democrat mailed a complaint to the Federal Election Commission today charging that the pro-Clinton organization is violating election laws.

This is designed to create negative press for Hillary. How do we know that?

It is highly unlikely that the Obama supporters will get what they want from the FEC any time soon. For one, the FEC is notoriously slow. It took three years to settle similar complaints lodged against independent political entities that ran advertisements in the 2004 election.

For another: [More...]

A dozen current and former FEC officials interviewed by the Wall Street Journal in the last few days don't agree on whether the organization is violating the law. The Obama complaint doesn't cite any firm evidence to prove that the Clinton organization is acting improperly.

There are two requirements for a 527:

They can't run advertisements directly calling for the election or defeat of candidate; and they can't solicit large donations by saying that the purpose of the organization is to elect or defeat a specific candidate.

As to the ads the Obama backers are trying to block:

In the FEC complaint, the Obama backers don't cite any firm evidence of the Clinton group running afoul of either condition. The one television advertisement released to the media by the pro-Clinton group doesn't mention Mr. Obama's name or call on people to vote for Mrs. Clinton. Instead, it tells voters to "tell Hillary to keep working on those solutions for the middle class."

The pro-Obama group speculates the ad sponsors are telling potential contributors the ads are for the purpose of aiding Hillary's campaign.

However, the printed materials that the founders of the organization say they send to prospective contributors don't mention Mrs. Clinton's name. The fundraising materials sent to the Wall Street Journal by the organization say the purpose of the group is to "raise issues that may influence voters in the 2008 presidential election."

The Journal says Jason Kinney, one of the founders of the group sponsoring the ads said last week it was "very careful to adhere to the laws and rules as we understand them."

The group is the American Leadership Project. It says,

We want to shine a light on issues that matter most to the nation's middle class _ health care, freezing foreclosures, those sorts of thing..."Obviously Senator Clinton is a recognized champion on these issues."

The group registered as a 527 on Feb. 15:

Under Internal Revenue Service and Federal Election Commission regulations, 527 organizations can raise unlimited amounts of money to advocate issues to voters. The name 527 refers to the section of the IRS code that authorizes their existence. The ads from such a group cannot specifically call for Clinton's election or Obama's defeat.

Here's the kicker:

A 527 group financed by Obama supporters spent more than $1 million assisting Obama going into Super Tuesday and a union-backed 527 ran ads on behalf of Edwards in Iowa.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 23, 2008 (boomark / email).